Captain & Commander - AU Rexoka Stories
by Jade-Max
Summary: A collection of Vignettes that were spawned by, or didn't fit with, the original "TCW - Captain & Commander" thread. These are mostly Rex & Ahsoka being paired romantically - AUs of Vignettes that are written, or original versions of those already posted before that had to be tweaked to fit.
1. Post S4, Ep 11: Rex in Jeans -Respect AU

**Disclaimer:** Star Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas; he created the sandbox. I'm simply destroying the sandcastles.

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**Author's Note:** I blame (yes; _blame :p) _**laloga** for this one as she just _had _to mention Rex wanting payback after what I put him through in "Respect II" with Ahsoka's slave costume. As a consequence – totally AU :p

**Title:** Respect - AU [aka: Rex in Jeans]  
**Author:** Jade_Max  
**Characters:** Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano  
**Genre:** Humor/UST - One might add... Lots of Humor?  
**Era:** The Clone Wars [AU]  
**Summary:**Set after Episode 11, Season 4; Ahsoka has a task that's unlike any other Anakin's ever assigned her...

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**Respect - AU**

"I'm sorry, Master, you want me to _what_?"

"The Queen of Zygerria is partial to males," Anakin explained patiently as if to a child. "She's bound to be unimpressed by a female being offered as a slave."

"Then why not you or Master Kenobi?"

"I tried being a slave once," Anakin informed her shortly, crossing his arms over his chest as his expression darkened. "I wasn't very good at it. Besides, Obi-Wan and I need to have free reign of the market to track the missing colonists. Seeing as how you're Togrutan, I figured the Queen would be interested in speaking with one of your people who's so obviously rogue."

"And if I'm portraying a slaver, I would, obviously, have a slave," Ahsoka finished with distaste. "He'll never go for it."

"Then pick someone else," Anakin advised her. "But I think you'll need his ability to thinking on his feet for this one. I can't think of anyone better."

"I could be the slave."

Shaking his head, Anakin turned back to the tactical map. "A Jedi has to be the one to lead this little expedition and Obi-Wan and I have to be focused elsewhere."

Ahsoka paused for a moment, giving her Master a long look. "You don't trust yourself around her, do you?"

"Slavers ensured I was born into slavery," he informed her tightly. "They ensured my _mother _spent the better part of her life in subservience and chains."

"In other words no," she paraphrased dryly, holding up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay; I'll ask him, but Rex isn't going to like it."

"Stress the importance of this mission," Anakin urged her. "Order him if you have to."

Already shaking her head at the word _order_, Ahsoka bit back a sharp retort. Rex would have to volunteer for this mission or she'd be asking someone else. No, she realized abruptly, she had to _convince_ him to volunteer for this mission; had to convince him that she needed _him _and no one else.

And after the recent events at Umbara, she knew she had her work cut out for her.

Rex was still smarting at how he'd been used by Krell, still smarting over the fact his trust had been abused to ensure his brothers fell whenever possible and in the numbers Krell wished to see. Needless deaths for all they'd had a mission to take the planet. Deaths that still weighed him down; but it was a darkness in Rex, the new edge to his personality that worried her most. He questioned orders now; questioned the Jedi and their right to lead men who had been bred to fight a war the Jedi were ill equipped for.

Unless those Jedi were the ones he knew best.

Still, for all she knew he trusted her, _this _wasn't something she could order him on. It wasn't technically a military operation and he was likely to balk at the idea of being a slave. Especially when it would mirror so closely the need to follow orders he didn't agree with and submit to a master in all things.

She knew him well enough to know this wasn't going to be easy; in fact, it was likely to be impossible.

"I'll ask," she conceded finally. "But I won't order him. This isn't the kind of mission where it should be anything but volunteer."

"He's a soldier, Ahsoka."

"He's a _man_, Master," she shot back with a sour look, ignoring the arched eyebrows and speculative gleam that entered Anakin's eyes with her vehement insistence. A little _too _vehement, she realized even as she forged ahead. "No different from you or Master Kenobi. You wouldn't want to be volunteered for something like this, what makes you think he would?"

"Snips… it's his job."

"Fighting Seppies and clankers is his job; not infiltrating the defunct empire of a Zygerrian Queen with delusions of grandeur!" Shooting her Master a disgusted look, she spun and headed for the door. "I'll handle it; you just worry about how you're going to make this work if something goes wrong."

Leaving her Master with that wry admonishment, Ahsoka left the command center and went looking for Rex. Wandering the halls of the _Resolute_, she asked each trooper she met if she'd seen him, not once thinking to use her comlink. Her mind was preoccupied with the assignment before her, the task Anakin had set her and whirled with concern for her missing people. Little things, like prompt communication, were lost by the wayside.

Following the directions of the troopers, she eventually found Rex in the mess hall going over a datapad. It was a familiar sight, a comforting one, and one she hadn't seen since she'd found him atop the airbase control tower on Umbara. Their confrontation and ensuing discussion had signaled a shift between them, a change in their relationship; no longer experienced field Captain and kid, but Captain and Commander - Rex and Ahsoka. She'd been deliberately vulnerable to him and he'd responded as she'd hoped.

For once he'd needed _her _and she couldn't have stayed away if she'd tried.

As if sensing her presence, he glanced up from the datapad, spied her in the doorway and waved her over. Ahsoka went willingly, sliding into the chair across from him. With the mess almost completely deserted, his form was address was no surprise. "Ahsoka."

"Rex." She leaned forward on her forearms and plucked the still steaming cup of caf from before him, took a sip and replaced it. He watched her do it, his expression neutral, his gaze closed, but she knew better than to assume he was angry with her for it. They'd shared a steaming cup of caf many times. Deciding to jump right in, the straightforward approach was best, she grimaced. "I need a favor you're not going to like."

His eyebrows arched. "How do you know I won't like it?"

"Anakin's decided we're going after my..." she hesitated, seeing the flare of understanding in his eyes when she faltered, the sense of kinship, and then deliberately changed her form of address to something that stung less; something that put some much needed distance between her and the missing Togruta. "That is, we're going after the colonists. He thinks we can infiltrate the palace by having one of us pose as a Slaver with a Slave."

"I see."

"Do you?"

Rex nodded sharply and quickly, if inaccurately, offered her his grasp of the situation. "You and General Skywalker will be infiltrating the palace, with you as his slave while, I would assume, General Kenobi and I check the slave markets."

It was a good analysis of what one could expect and, she half wished Anakin had decided to go that way. "Close – except the pairings are wrong." Exhaling loudly, she forced herself to continue. "Anakin wants _you _to play the part of the slave to my slaver, Rex," she winced with the words, not sure how else she could phrase it. "He thinks the Queen would be... interested."

"Interested."

"In a man of your..." she trailed off, able to see the way the chevrons on her lekku darkened with embarrassment from the corner of her eyes.

Rex, however, didn't let her off the hook. He simply arched an eyebrow and, the little devil, prompted her mildly with a twinkle in his eyes even as his expression was neutral. "My?"

"Your obvious prowess and superb physique." She rushed to get the words out, choosing her own descriptors rather than the ones Anakin had used. "She.. uh... she might want to... to negotiate for you." Unable to help herself, she looked away from his still neutral gaze. "I _told _you that you wouldn't like it."

Rex placed his datapad aside, took a sip from his caf and then leaned forward to look at her; she could feel it as if it were a physical thing. It started with the top of her montrals, slid downwards, over her face, each detail scrutinized and cataloged, before moving yet further downwards to take in her posture. When he spoke, it was the question she'd asked herself, the one Anakin had been so vehement about answering.

"Why you and me and not you and him?"

"Anakin refuses to play the slave," she returned with a wry smile that quickly faltered and died. "And he thinks that because so many of my... of... so..." Her throat closed and she was unable to continue.

Rex reached over to place one hand on top of where hers were folded tightly on the table top and, thankfully, understood what she was trying to say. "He thinks another Togruta slave would be uninteresting."

She nodded, grateful he was able to voice it as she struggled with her emotions. _There is no emotion, there is peace._The Jedi axiom echoed through her head, but it was Rex's hold, his solid presence, that allowed her to get a firm hold on herself. "Right."

"So how will a Togruta _slaver _would be enough to catch her interest?"

"The novelty," she tried to focus on his words with the way his hand was still protectively held over her own. "My people, as a general rule, are good and righteous but need large social groups. To have one not only leave and strike up independently," she shook her head. "_I'd_be interested in the novelty factor for no other reason than it's so unusual."

"And if that angle doesn't work?"

"Bruno Denturri."

They shared a look that said everything there was too about that. There was a tight squeeze on her fingers before he released them. "A good backup plan. What do I need to know if I'm to be... _your slave_."

The words sent a rush of heat through her system, the cock of one of his eyebrows showing that he had deliberately turned it into a suggestive sentence; an innuendo. Innuendo; from _Rex_?

Her heart stuttered in her chest as an image flashed through her mind of Rex during one of his workouts - sweaty and half bare - but laid out on her bunk with that teasing, suggestive light that currently lit his eyes. She blinked, knowing the chevrons on her montrals had deepened in color to almost black, and couldn't help it.

"Ah." she cleared her throat. "I ah... I suppose you could... talk to Anakin," she faltered, knowing that was a bad idea even as she said it.

She'd re-earned Rex's trust after the Umbara debacle through hard work and perseverance but Anakin... Anakin had done little more than offer a very trite apology to his surviving men about having let them with a traitor and expected things to pick up as normal. Her master simply couldn't understand what Rex and Torrent Company had been through and he hadn't made the effort she had to learn. But then, as close and her Master and Rex had once been – still were to a degree – Ahsoka could see the disconnect from the chain of command. The disconnect she'd deliberately smashed between herself and the Captain to ensure their friendship remained intact. Anakin didn't seem to be aware of it, let alone willing to do the same.

The skin around Rex's eyes tightened and he shook his head once. "No."

"We wouldn't be working with him and Master Kenobi, Rex; we'd be on our own."

After that last, unexpected mental image, the thought of _getting_ him that way was more appealing than she should have been. _Your people are missing_, she admonished herself firmly, reminding herself of her purpose. _Ogling Rex is a good way to ruin the trust you had to work so hard to regain. Stop it and stick to the mission!_

Thus self-warned, Ahsoka forged ahead. "We need... _I _need you for this. You're able to think on your feet, to adapt to any situation; you can make snap decisions and execute them in a fraction of the time it would take someone else. I don't... I don't think I'll be able to find them in time without you."

"Flattery, Ahsoka?"

"Fact," she affirmed despite the flutter in her stomach; she loved the way he said her name. "I know I'm asking a lot and that this isn't a military mission-"

"I'll do it," he cut in before she continued. "For you."

"Really?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

She laughed at his dry question, as she was no doubt supposed to, and some of the tension dissipated between them. "Oh, I want it. This isn't going to be easy and having you beside me will be all that make it tolerable."

"Just tolerable?"

His question held a subtle teasing note and she rolled her eyes. "_Marginally _tolerable," she conceded, putting a grudging note into her voice. He recognized the hit with a nod of his head.

"So where do we start?"

She thought for a moment; asking Anakin was out for a number of reasons. Her gaze fell on his datapad. "Is that linked into the _Resolute's _holo netsystem?"

He pushed it towards her.

Scooping it up, she saved his reading - a report from Fives on the Umbara situation and the addendum describing Dogma's fate - before selecting the remote functions. The datapad beeped and clicked before it hooked into the main holonet. She glanced up at him. "Is this datapad one of yours?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I was thinking to pull some slave costume images from the holonet; it'll be traced back to this datapad." _And you._

He heard her unspoken comment and merely rolled his wrist as an indicator she was to continue as he took another sip of his caf. Glad he didn't care, she typed in her search query - and dropped the datapad as the first image loaded, appearing before her eyes. Before she could grab it, Rex had placed two fingers on the screen and pulled it his way.

The chevrons on her montrals, which had recovered some, flushed deeply to match the black of her master's jerkin as a mental image of _Rex _like the man in the image superimposed itself in her thoughts. She felt flushed, uneasy and squirmed in her chair, reaching for the pad.

"Rex-"

His gaze dropped to the image, his expression remaining stoic before he removed the image, going back to her search, and passing it back her way. "Slave or not, I somehow doubt Anakin would understand the _lack _of a costume as a necessary evil. What else is there?"

Ahsoka changed her criteria a little and began wading through images. After sliding the datapad back and forth several times, she pushed to her feet, rounded the table, and slid in next to him, her thigh tight against his as she placed the datapad before them. Rex made no protest and, to her surprise, accommodated the new position.

His gloved hand brushed against the single lekku down her back as he slid his hand underneath it, the cool plastoid of his armor a direct and immediate contrast to the warmth hidden within his gloves as his arm settled lightly across her shoulders. She shivered but he said nothing, didn't even appear to notice, as they turned their attention to the holonet feed together.

After several long minutes of looking, Rex plucked the datapad from her fingers and disconnected the connection. He saved his report from Fives and removed the data rod. "If anyone asks," he told her in a dry tone as he tucked the pad away into the back of her belt, "I'm telling them that you stole it to look at pictures of naked men."

Laughter bubbled up unexpectedly and, unable to contain it, she grinned, laughing. "It wouldn't exactly be untrue now would it? Care to add to the collection, Rex?"

"I'm sure if you searched hard enough, you could find a picture of Jango." His response was dry.

"Wouldn't be the same," she quipped cheekily.

He gave her a look as he squeezed her shoulder before pushing to his feet without answering. "When did Anakin want to leave?"

She checked her chrono as she joined him and they turned towards the door to the mess hall together. "Sometime in the next couple of hours."

"That doesn't leave us a lot of time." He frowned, applying his considerable intellect to the situation. "Somehow, I think a queen with a male slave will consider less is more. This could work in our favor."

"How?"

"My _costume _can be something simple. My workout short, for example."

Ahsoka bit her lip. The mental images of near naked Rex were playing havoc with her already unsteady equilibrium. She felt guilty for fantasizing while her people were being prepped for auction as slaves and undergoing who knew what kind of tortures for it. Swallowing hard, she wondered if her mind was unconsciously latching on to something _good_ to avoid thinking about the _bad_.

Rex took her reaction to be negative.

"You have another idea, Ahsoka?"

She exhaled heavily, drawing her mind back to the problem at hand. "Not really. We could check the planet below. Based on what Anakin said in the briefing, the way the colonists-" she faltered but gamely continued, "-dress is apparently part of their appeal as slaves."

He stopped, drawing her aside as a couple of troopers passed. "Would you be comfortable with that?" he searched her gaze seriously, earnestly. "Would you be capable of allowing me to search through their things not knowing their fate?"

Startled by the question, she opened her mouth to tell him that of course she'd be comfortable with it, but he continued before she could.

"They're missing in action, Ahsoka, without any record or indication of when or if we're going to be able to recover them all. There's a good chance that, even if we succeed in this mission, not all of them will be coming home. Can you handle having me go through their belongings knowing that this is the most likely outcome? That they may never use them again?"

She jerked back as if he'd struck her, immediately angry with him for pointing it out, but, as quickly as it reared its head, the anger faded and the _logic_ in his words struck her. Then, as she considered his question, _really_ considered it, the _where_of the wisdom behind it blindsided her.

It was like a low blow to the gut and she reached out to steady herself on the wall. Rex was speaking from experience. Bile rose in the back of her throat and she lifted one hand to her lips to prevent herself from being sick. Rex wasn't talking about the colonists, about _her _people; he was talking about when he'd had to repeatedly do the same for his brothers.

Images of the men that were suspected KIA but were listed as MIA flashed through her mind with the sudden overlay of Rex having to go through the kit. She could perfectly imagine his stoicism and precision, the care he would give each item. A task she'd never... she'd...

The magnitude of what he'd asked her finally sunk in.

She was going to be sick.

A strong arm wrapped about her waist, sliding up her spine and under her lekku before his fingers pressed her down and forward by the base of the neck. Using the wall to balance her, Rex pushed her into a bent over position, his breathe feathering her cheek and across her montrals. She _felt _more than heard the instruction.

_"Breathe."_

Inhaling through her nose, she struggled against the urge to lose the contents of her stomach over the deck, and exhaled slowly, closing her eyes against a sudden spinning. Rex's other hand snuck in to flatten, fingers extended against her stomach to hold her upright and the weight of that hand seemed to burn through her top. She gasped, struggling to catch her breath.

"Breathe," he murmured again, the hand on her back now rubbing in tiny circles, almost all of her weight against the hand cradling her belly. "Exhale, Ahsoka."

She did, but it came out on a shudder.

"Good. Inhale."

Rex gently coached her until the urge to hurl passed and she stiffened in his grasp. His thumb lay along her sternum, his palm flat against her belly while his fingers curled practically to her hip and down across the crossed belt towards her -

As if realizing his hold, Rex dropped his hand from her front, gripping her arm to help her stand upright, and then stepped back. Ahsoka smiled weakly at him as she leaned against the wall for support, one hand still grasping his forearm in a death grip lest she fall over. "Thanks."

He nodded once, his color high on his cheek bones, but it quickly faded as he brought them back to the topic at hand; to her missing people and what they were going to do about it. "I think that answers my question."

She swallowed hard. "No," she moistened her lips when the word came out a croak and marshaled her inner strength. If Rex could do it for his missing brothers, she could do it for her people. Giving herself a shake, she met his gaze squarely. "No," she repeated firmly. "I can do this, Rex. This might be the best chance we have at locating and freeing them. How could I pass that up simply because of an 'if'?"

"Then let's go."

"Now?"

"Is waiting going to make it any easier?"

It wasn't. He knew it. She knew it. She just hadn't wanted to admit it. Making a face, she straightened her shoulders and fell into step with him.

"I... I've never done this before," she conceded, even though she knew that he knew it. "Is there... are there... what..."

"Just think of how you'd want someone going through your things if it were you," he told her honestly, but Ahsoka caught the glimmer of the pain he suppressed even as he offered a caution. "It's not going to be easy."

"Neither is playing a Slaver and making nice with the people who are responsible for this mess in the first place," she returned determinedly. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let it stop me."

He smiled faintly, his eyes flashing with a mixture of approval, pride and respect and it made her stand straighter. She wasn't the young, eagerly determined Padawan with a cocky attitude he'd first met anymore. Having him acknowledge it, even unspoken, did wonders for her confidence; especially in this situation.

"Where do you want to start, Ahsoka?"

"First? _We _hitch a ride dirt side. Once there... we'll figure it out."

* * *

_Thirty minutes later_

"I think this is hopeless, Rex," Ahsoka settled to the edge of the bed in the room they were searching. She'd had him try on a couple of things they'd found, but they didn't look _right _to her and he was trying on another one in the adjoining 'fresher as she spoke. "Maybe we should just stick with your idea."

Rex opened the door, frowning, his hands on his hips as he looked down at a billowy pair of white pants, decorated with a slash of blue near the middle, that hung down nearly to the floor. He was shirtless, and Ahsoka tried not to stare; shirtless Rex was _distracting_. Enough that she wasn't feeling _quite _so guilty about this part of the whole assignment and that just made her feel worse.

"The more you have me try on, the more I agree with you."

"Should we try another house?"

"Perhaps something else?"

"Like what?"

He turned to go back into the 'fresher and closed the door to change, muffling his voice. "Something with more selection?"

"Like a store?"

"If they have one."

Ahsoka considered it. The variety would be better and wouldn't be restricted to personal taste. "They should; with all of the clothing we've seen, the cloth has to come from somewhere."

Rex didn't take long to change before emerging once more in his bodysuit as he was snapping his chest plate back into place, adjusting the fasteners. Ahsoka had his pauldron, gauntlets, greaves, gloves, vambraces and shinguards in a bag and his helmet lying on the bed next to her; the latter she held out and he accepted, their bare fingers brushing as he gave her a nod.

"Let's see what else we can find." Clipping his helmet to his belt, Rex scooped the bag containing the rest of his gear from the bed. "I should have come in civvies."

"Like _you'd _feel comfortable in civvies."

He slanted her a faint grin. "Ever seen me in civvies, Ahsoka?"

She considered it and made a face. "No, but that's just more proof. Do you even own civvies, Rex?"

"What do you think I wear on leave?"

"You never take leave."

"Never?"

"Unless forced to; having to play bodyguard isn't taking leave."

"The few times I've been on leave, you've been at the temple," he told her as they exited the house and back into the Kiros sunshine. None of the homes were locked and they left it as they'd found it, closing the door behind them. "For all we're thought of as flesh droids," his words were hard, an echo of the lessons learned at Umbara within them, "they seem to realize that a combat cycle with a few days for down time increases productivity."

"And _you _wear civvies during these down times?"

He shot her a look she couldn't read for her skepticism. "I'll see if I can find an approximation in one of the shops here."

"You're pulling my leg."

Rex simply smiled at her for all she didn't believe him and continued onwards. They headed for one of the larger buildings on the outskirts of town, the market area from what Rex had found in the database while studying the layout of the village for the assault. Row after row of stalls, abandoned as they'd been left eleven rotations ago, stood before them, their contents and wares left as the owners had been forced to abandon them.

Rex scanned the area with a slight frown as Ahsoka crossed her arms over her chest and tried to resist a shiver. "This way."

She followed as he led her through the stalls to a small, squat building near a booth that was piled with bolts of colorful fabrics, several of them having been tossed around haphazardly by an unknown force. Most likely, Ahsoka knew, the droids who'd come to collect the stall keeper. The booth beside it held various costumes that Rex couldn't wear but, if she'd been posing as a slave…

Ahsoka eyed a beaded, risqué costume with a critical eye, wondering if wearing something like that would change Rex's view of her. She shook of the thought and followed him to the house and paused, looking back wistfully, once, before she focused on the task at hand. "Why this one?"

"In transit, I did some reading about the people of Kiros," he supplied as he opened the door and looked inside before disappearing within, "one of the side notes was about shop keeping – ah, yes, I'm right."

"What about shopkeepers?" she followed him in, frowning.

He was standing near a shelving unit that was stacked with neatly folded clothes. His hands flashed as he sorted through them, answering her absently. "The intel stated they set up shop near to their homes where most of their stock is kept. Ah. Good." He pulled a pair of long, blue legging-like _things _that didn't look quite right from one shelf before checking for shirts. With a glance her way he disappeared behind a curtained area.

"Good?" Ahsoka frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared after him; he was in a strange mood today and it echoed through his usually stoic and solid Force presence. There was a determination there she'd never before felt; an almost... mischievous bend? That couldn't be right. "Good _what_?"

There was the sound of clips and buckles being undone as he shed what remained of his armor, the _whoomp_ of his kama hitting the ground and then the very distinct sound of a clone bodysuit being removed. Ahsoka shivered, swallowing hard and turned back to the doorway, looking out at the stall and the outfit that had caught her eye. It didn't linger long though as the desolation of the stall and its surroundings permeated the atmosphere, pressing down on her, _reminding _her of the-

"Ahsoka?"

She turned her head, not quite paying attention. "Hmm... uh...?"

Rex braced his hands on his hips. "What do you think?"

She blinked, clearing her gaze as she turned to face him fully - and took a step back, unintentionally hitting the wall by the door. Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening as the sex appeal of the man before her slammed into her full force.

Swallowing hard, her gaze dropped to the ground where his toes, long and straight and perfect and never before seen by her, peaked out of loose cuffs around his ankles. The fabric was Torrent Company blue, loose to the knee before tightening fractionally over his muscular thighs, loving encasing the muscles and giving them just the barest hint of definition. Her jaw worked as she suddenly found it hard to breathe, the fabric encasing his hips and... and the apex of his thighs molding to him with just enough detail she could _see_...

The chevrons on her montrals darkened promptly from blue to black as heat swept through her system, making her skin itch to be touched, her mouth drying out. Her gaze lingered on that part of him for a long moment as she was unable to tear it away before the long, tanned fingers that were normally encased in gloves caught her attention. The blue gift-to-women-everywhere piece of clothing ended low on his hips, kept up by a slash of black cloth.

Above it, a white, skin tight shirt lovingly hugged his flat abdomen and rippling pectorals, with a slightly scooped neck and short sleeves that capped mid-bicep. For all it covered him completely, the clothing modest by most planetary standards, only one word filtered through Ahsoka's mind.

_Indecent._

It was quickly followed by others.

_Illicit. _

_Sinful. _

_Wicked. _

_Depraved. _

_Decadent. _

_Sexy._

Her heart raced and she was suddenly glad for the support at her back, her hands curling into fists as she fought the urge to grab him and-

"Ahsoka."

"Wh-" she had to pause to swallow and clear her throat, missing the amusement gleaming in his bole colored eyes. "What is that?"

"Close to my civvies," he crossed his arms over his chest and her heart jumped in hers with the edge of satisfaction to his tone. "Minus the jacket."

Grasping that comment like a drowning woman, Ahsoka's brow furrowed. "Jacket?"

"You've seen it."

It took almost a full, long minute for her brain to engage as she stared at him blankly. When it did though, she gasped, one hand shooting to the choker at her neck and its distinctive diamond pattern. He smiled his little half smile and nodded.

"Why don't you wear it more often?"

"Regs." He dropped his hands, slipping his thumbs through the belt loops at the top of the blue slack-like _things _that were giving her heart palpitations. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah," she looked away, searching for some kind of distraction, except she could still see him out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah... Could you..." she waved weakly back towards the change room.

"Could I what, Ahsoka?"

Now he was being deliberately difficult. "Could you change - please?"

There was no doubting Rex's amusement as he shook his head. "I think these make more sense while we're looking through the stall and here," he contradicted. "Getting into and out of my armor, easy as it is after so much practice, wastes time."

He turned to go back to the curtained area and Ahsoka screwed her eyes shut as the image of his perfectly shaped and toned buttocks was imprinted behind her eyes. Sweet mercy! Who needed clones to _fight_? Just put Rex and a squad of his brothers in the mostly female congress of the Separatists dressed as he was, or in variations of it, and there's be no need to continue the war; no one would have the energy to fight!

"Ahsoka?"

"Yeah?"

Amusement laced his tone. "Are you all right?"

She felt the rush of sensation that indicated her montrals were giving away her embarrassment. Decided to brave her way through it, she forced a cheerful tone, knowing it would come out pained, but gave it a go anyway. "Just... picturing putting you in the middle of the mostly women Separatist congress dressed like that," her eyes opened to find his and Rex arched his eyebrows in surprise at her bravado. "I was thinking we'd end this war really quick."

"Give me my decees and I'd agree with you."

That he didn't follow her line of thought was almost comical. "Uh, Rex; you wouldn't _have _to shoot them - that's what I mean."

"I don't follow."

"You're six feet of muscle and terrifying sex appeal with an edge of danger when you're armored and without your helmet," she waved one hand weakly at his attire, "like this you're positively dangerous to any woman with blood in her veins, no matter the color. Drop a contingent of clones dressed like you are now in the middle and... er..." she looked away, unable to keep her gaze locked on his.

"And?"

It figured he couldn't let it go. She exhaled shakily. "Ever hear the expression 'Make love, not war'?"

He waited as the silence stretched between them, and didn't reply until she snuck a look his way. Deadpan, all serious, his tone was belied by the twinkle in his eyes. "If I can offer my services for the good of the Republic-"

"Rex!" She burst out laughing. "You're horrible."

"You were the one thinking of using my brothers and I as sex toys."

"Like they'd object?" Rubbing her face with both hands, she knew it did nothing to hide the blatant proof of her embarrassment. "Can we _please _get off this topic?"

"You're the one who brought it up," he pointed out. "I'm simply accommodating you."

Ahsoka groaned, the thought crossing her mind that if he was accommodating her, he'd be flat on his back and she'd be straddling his hips. The image nearly blindsided her and she had to shake her head to banish it, dropping her hands as she fought to regain even footing.

Then Rex _had _to add to his comment.

"We could explore the logistics," he suggested, sliding his hands into his back pockets, tightening the fabric further across his hips and...

Ahsoka averted her eyes before she was caught staring.

Rex didn't seem to notice as he continued, eyes narrowed, considering the scenario. "The number of men needed, say... all of Torrent Company and ARC Fives for _special _assignment," Ahsoka stifled a groan, "a HALO drop would be ideal, but to land without our armor too dangerous. Gliders would be the most likely to get close. Demolitions to enter the building; hypertension cables and harnesses to rappel in from the roof..."

An image as he described blossomed in her brain of Rex and his brothers trussed up in special gear to rappel down into the Separatist congress. She bit the inside of her lip with a stifled whimper as harnesses evolved into cuffs and synthrope. Rex tied up? That was the last thing she need to be picturing; he was _not _helping!

His gaze shot to her face, having caught the sound. "Something wrong, _Commander_?"

"I-" her throat closed and, unable to respond at the caress he slid into her rank, she stared at him for a heartbeat before clearing her throat, her voice coming out hoarse. "We're not here to end the war; we're here to find you clothes so we can locate my missing people."

He nodded, abruptly all business again. "Shall we see what we can find then?"

"A... are you going to," she glanced at him apprehensively, wishing he'd put his armor back on, "wear _that_?"

"Why not?"

Why not? Why _not_?! Because it was indecent! Because she was going to go out of her mind while he did. Because he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but that neatly outlined package at the apex of his thighs and the tight rear of his that was just calling, _begging_ to be bitten while cupped so lovingly in those pants? Because, for all she'd seen him in his body glove time and time again, there was just something so unbelievably _sexy _about the way his bare feet gripped the floor or the way he-

"Ahsoka?"

"No reason," she muttered darkly, ducking out the door and fleeing temptation as she called over her shoulder, "you check in here, I'll check the stalls."

It gave her space - except she could still see every detailed and lovingly nestled inch of him every time she blinked.

_Focus_, she snapped at herself as she began to sort through several items of clothing in the stall that was obviously for men. Tunics and wraps were placed aside as she deliberately focused on the task at hand. Rex was partial to Torrent Company blue - and looked damn sexy in it - and black and white. She added a couple of gold and silver items for him to try, taking her time and giving herself a chance to calm down before returning to the small shop.

_It's just Rex, Ahsoka._

The admonishment to herself didn't have the desired effect.

_I know it's just Rex, but it's a damn sexy Rex; not that I noticed before._

_How could I _not _notice? The man's sex appeal is off the charts with those burgundy and caf colored eyes; the gruff voice; that tough, muscular physique, especially those tight-_

Snap _out of it! You've seen plenty of clones in less than he's wearing now; Force, you've seen _him _in less than he's wearing now!_

_I know, but this is different; I can't... ugh!_

"Great, now I'm talking to myself," she muttered, scooping up what she'd found and heading back to the shop. She stepped in, unable to see him. "Rex?"

"Here," he called, his voice coming from behind the curtain. "Did you find anything?"

"A few things. What have you got?"

"I'll let you see when you're ready."

He stepped out and her eyes widened comically. "You're _not _serious."

"Too much?"

She nodded. He was in a traditional tunic of her people, the straps around and across his chest holding the fabric that hid it from view in place. Down, underneath, were the short, knee length leggings. She frowned, tilting her head and offered - reluctantly and hesitantly. "Maybe without the tunic?"

"No."

Ahsoka grinned, charmed by the gruff response. "Oh sure, you can wear those sinful... those... what?"

"You think my jeans are sinful?"

"Is that what you call them?" His eyes gleamed before he disappeared beyond the curtain again. Ahsoka took the opportunity to place the stack she'd found near the doorway. "Do you really think this is going to work, Rex?"

"My jeans?"

She blew out a breath. "This _plan_."

"As long as I only have to play the slave, not act it," he returned, the sound of clothing hitting the floor doing funny things to her insides.

Ahsoka quickly back stepped, away from the curtain and what was occurring behind it, turning to face one of the built in wall shelves without seeing it. "You might have to play it."

"So what kind of slave am I then?"

She frowned, not having considered that angle. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," his voice stopped being muffled and she turned, biting back a grin at his displeased expression, the loose leggings done in puce grasped at his ankles and hips, a shirt in see-through gold highlighting his musculature nicely, even as it set off his hair like some fabled hero of old. It made him seem exotic; untouchable. "Am I so be your fool, for entertainment? You personal slave? Pleasure slave?"

And suddenly she wanted nothing more than to touch.

Clasping her hands behind her back, knowing the chevrons on her montrals and lekku weren't returning to their normal state any time soon, she swallowed hard and regarded him critically. Striving for a light atmosphere between them, she sought to tease him. "You look like you could fill the first and the last in that thing."

"Pink turns you on?"

"It's more purple than pink." It was a ridiculous argument. "I was referring to the shirt; just the thing, I think."

"Don't want me shirtless, Ahsoka?"

She grinned a predator's smile. "Better shirtless than that... whatever you called that thing you were wearing with your 'jeans'." she quoted the word, making him grin.

"Keep the shirt; copy that," he turned, pulling the curtain away as he collected the stack she'd left him. "Let's find some pants."

_Or not._

"What was that, Commander?"

_Oh no... I didn't just... _she winced, realizing she'd said it allowed and she'd not intended to. "Nothing," she offered a weak smile when he shot her a questioning look. "Nothing. Just.. Let's get this over with, we don't have much time."

Rex proceeded to model several items for her in quick succession, all without the shirt.

There was a toga style, silver garment that wrapped part of his chest and low on his hips, exposing more flesh than it covered. Pants so tiny he'd almost not come out to show them, claiming true indecency - and sending her into a fit of laughter when he'd emerged. A wrapped skirt-like hip cover that resembled his towel on board the _Resolute_; the look he'd given her upon appearing in it made her think of Rex in the shower.

He'd beaten a hasty retreat when she'd shaken her head, unable to look at him.

In the end, Ahsoka agreed that the shirt would look just 'the thing' with his workout shorts. Leaving a note for the shopkeeper to explain where the garment had gone when he returned safely - for she _would _rescue her people - she was straightening to find Rex behind her in his new civvies, having pulled his boots on under the loose lower legs.

Once again she was struck by the almost vulgar aspect of the pants; except with such a masculine show on display it was anything but. Her mouth went dry as she pinned him with a look. "Those things are indecent."

"To you," he agreed as he slung the bag holding his borrowed top and kit over his shoulder. "We're heading out right away and I'm just going to have to change anyway; this will make it easier."

She opened her mouth to protest his logic. Paused. Thought better of it, and then exhaled a long, soft breath. "We're going to find them, aren't we?"

"We're not just going to find them, Ahsoka," he promised, suddenly solemn and all business. "We're going to rescue them."

Buoyed by his confidence and attitude, she let herself believe him, not imagining for a moment that she'd soon have to make a life altering choice that would cleave her heart in two. His welfare or that of her people; it would not, she'd come to realize in a single moment of clarity, be an easy choice.

_fin_


	2. S4, Post Ep 14: Distraction AU

**Disclaimer: **Star Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas; he created the sandbox. I'm simply destroying the sandcastles.

**Author's Note: **Huge thank you to **laloga** for helping me with both versions of this fic. Thanks girl!

**Title:** Distraction - AU  
**Author:** Jade_Max  
**Characters:** Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano  
**Genre:** Angst  
**Era:** The Clone Wars  
**Summary:**Set after Episode 14, Season 4; Rex tries to help Ahsoka sort through the conflicting emotions after her latest brush with Lux Bonteri.

**Author's Note:** So the story line from the canon compliant version of this and this story are not any different. The big differences are in Rex's thought process; what he sees - what he feels. The unspoken stuff. So his reactions are a little different and a less "friend zone" oriented. Be warned; dialogue and setting are pretty much identical to the other one - enjoy :)

* * *

**Distraction**

_GAR Compound Coruscant - Mess Hall_

"Am I boring you, Commander?"

Rex watched as Ahsoka jerked with his polite inquiry, her forearm jumping under the fingers he'd placed there to get her attention.

Her gaze flew guiltily back to his, cheeks flushed darkly, the chevrons on her montrals deepening as she did - the Togrutan equivalent of a blush. "What?"

"Am I boring you," he repeated, partially amused by her distraction but also worried; it wasn't like Ahsoka not to be focused in the here and now - especially when talking to him after such a long absence. She shook her head, meeting his gaze for a brief moment before dropping it back to the mostly untouched tray before her. She'd moved her food around but taken only a bite or two – also unlike her.

"Sorry, Rex," she murmured, taking a tiny bite. "I guess I'm a little preoccupied."

An understatement if he'd ever heard one. Considering her for a long moment, he watched her gaze go unfocused again as she seemed to get lost within her thoughts once more. Knowing she wasn't paying him any attention, Rex took a moment to openly study her, forcing himself to do so dispassionately – as a leader examining a soldier.

Ignoring the sweet arch of her cheekbones, the graceful curvature of her montrals and fullness of her bottom lip - things he wasn't supposed to notice anyway but did, though he didn't know when he'd started - he noted new additions to her features that hadn't been there when he'd last seen her several weeks ago.

The strain lines around her eyes and lips; bars of worry and concern that she'd never before displayed in so public a setting. Her expression was more worrying; distant and anxious, as if her thoughts weren't pleasant ones. Letting his gaze drift downwards, he noted the lax grasp on her utensil as it dipped, unused and forgotten, towards the tray of uneaten food. Her other hand rested on the table top, tracing lines absently on the surface.

Watching her fingers for a moment, his brow furrowed; it looked like she was spelling something… something that ended in an... 'x'?

Looking around the crowded mess, he found it was fuller than normal.

With Torrent Company on Coruscant for a couple of days after their last assignment, they were enjoying a couple of days of down time while waiting for General Skywalker to come back with their next orders. Ahsoka's sudden appearance this morning had been an unexpected and welcome surprise.

But, while he and Ahsoka were known to share their meals given the chance, she'd done little more than push hers about her plate while he'd long since finished. Clones were seated to the left of their end table position, across the table and behind; they hadn't been able to get a corner or wall seat as they preferred.

There was little privacy here but that didn't stop him from reaching out to touch her hand, stopping her idle drawing, and bringing her attention back his way. Her hand tensed, but he didn't remove his. Waiting until she made eye contact, he pitched his voice low, knowing he sounded concerned – and he was. "Are you all right?"

She glanced left and right before meeting his gaze again, ever so briefly only to have it drop almost immediately. Hiding from _him_, he realized. Whatever was bothering her wasn't something she wanted to talk about and he inwardly cursed. She wasn't all right; he could see it and hadn't really needed to ask, but she also wasn't going out of her way to find an opportunity to explain the reason why.

Making a snap decision, Rex knew what he had to do. "Are you done with that, Ahsoka?" Her gaze snapped back to his with the use of her name in public and he pointed to her tray, continuing. "If you are, let's go."

Catching his meaning almost immediately, her eyes widened and her grateful expression told him he'd done the right thing; it was all he'd wanted to see and wasn't disappointed. She nodded, her unspoken agreement all the encouragement he needed, and stood together.

Collecting their trays, they headed for the entrance, placing them on the recycling rails next to the door and headed out. Ahsoka seemed to be caught on a detail, her eyes having gone glassy again as she stepped through the portal.

Rex, seeing Fives was in their way, gave the ARC trooper a nod and a pointed look when Ahsoka didn't greet him.

Fives was opening his mouth to fix that oversight when he caught Rex's eye and snapped his mouth shut. With obvious reluctance, he stepped aside, throwing Rex a concerned look. Rex gave a miniscule shake of his head, a sign he didn't yet know either and Fives nodded once. It was a sign he understood what Rex was doing. He should; he'd seen how close the Captain and Commander were. Fives entered the mess hall once they'd passed, Rex missing the frown he cast over his shoulder.

Rex gave his brother little consideration beyond being grateful that Fives had understood not to say anything.

Lost in thought, Ahsoka's pace was automatic and Rex stepped to her side, reaching out to direct her to the left with the pressure of his fingertips at the small of her back. She came back to herself with a shake of her head, looking at him, and blushed again as she narrowly avoided walking into a corner courtesy of his timely direction. "Sorry, Rex; did you say something?"

He shook his head, leaving his hand where it was but not touching her just in case she drifted again. "No." Casting her a pointed look, he nodded back to the mess hall. "But Fives will be upset you didn't acknowledge him."

"What – Fives? When?"

Rex nodded behind them. "As we were leaving the mess just now."

She groaned. "I'm going to owe him an apology. I'm sorry, Rex; I didn't even notice."

"So you keep saying; 'sorry' has been every other word out of your mouth since you got back." His look turned pointed, not letting her look away as concern entered his tone. "You haven't been yourself since returning from that bungled peace negotiation."

"A little more happened than just the peace negotiations," she admitted. "Where are we going?"

"Some place we can talk."

She was quiet, following his lead, and Rex headed for the only place he could think of where they wouldn't be disturbed; his quarters.

On planet there were few places that didn't hold many, many troopers and, as a Captain, he had the choice of bunking with his men or having his own room. He'd opted for the latter; privacy wasn't something the GAR was big on for its troops, but General Skywalker had insisted his commanding officers be given _something_.

As a result, it was the only place he knew of nearby where they wouldn't be interrupted or watched. Without an observation deck to visit in the middle or the night, or an empty training room, it was the closest thing to privacy they'd get. And Ahsoka wouldn't speak with him, _to _him the way she so obviously needed without that kind of isolation.

Ahsoka looked at him curiously as they walked, her gaze tracking down across his civvies with interest - she'd not really seen them before - and though he could feel it, he didn't respond to that curiosity and she chose not to voice it. His concern for her was _more_ than it should have been and he knew it; she was his commanding officer and his friend, but he didn't view her, privately, as only that. It was his burden, his closest guarded secret. It was enough she knew he admired her and he wasn't about to consciously do anything that would influence her otherwise. His concern for her was _more _than it should have been and he knew it.

She had choices to make, mistakes to muddle through and a future to look ahead to. He didn't. It wasn't about _him _anyway; it never had been.

Everything he did for her was to help her, to push her; to give her the tools to cope when he wouldn't be beside her anymore for, inevitably, that day would come. He was a soldier and he would one day sacrifice his life for the greater good. If he was lucky, he'd do it saving the lives of others; he would do it saving _hers_.

Rex could think of no better way to go down than to trade his life for the chance she would live.

They entered his quarters without a word between them, and Ahsoka – true to form and much to his relief – took a moment to examine her surroundings as he closed the door and put his back to it. He watched, removing his blasters, as her gaze traveled once around the room before coming back to linger on the items of interest. His armor piled neatly on the locker at the foot of the single bunk, his helmet neatly on top. As her gaze drifted away, his blasters joined the pile, the holster and belt folded neatly underneath.

The bunk itself; a standard issue frame, mattress and covers – tightly creased and folded as per regulation. His pillow sat at one end and her lips twisted into a faint smile; Rex wondered what she was thinking of, but her gaze moved on.

To the small table and chair beside the bunk, the data pad on top next to the only decoration in the room that made it his; the small two inch mock up of a blaster rifle, a clone's helmet over one end and an inscription in Mandalorian in raised letter across the base.

_Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum._

It had been the one and only gift Ahsoka had given him when she'd discovered clones didn't celebrate their lifedays as other beings did. Her reasoning at the time had been that everyone deserved to celebrate even if they only did it once.

She gravitated towards it, her fingers reaching out to trace the inscription, translating it as she whispered the words. "I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal." Her fingers dropped back to her side and she finally looked at him. "I can't believe you still have that."

"It was a gift from you," he returned with a faint smile. "What else would I do with it?"

"Throw it away?"

He shot her a pointed look.

"Okay, maybe not. I'm glad you like it."

"What's wrong, Ahsoka?"

She sighed and exhaled loudly. "Nothing." He remained silent as she turned back towards the table, placing one hand on it as her shoulders suddenly slumped, her voice dropping. "Everything."

When she didn't seem inclined to continue, he braced himself for a discussion he suspected he didn't want to have, pushing aside the personal reluctance in favor of her needs. "Everything."

"Well, maybe not _everything_," she admitted, glancing back his way with the faintest of smiles. "You're back so that's something." A pause, and then- "I've missed you, Rex."

"Likewise." But she'd never know just how much. "What happened, Ahsoka? Last I heard you'd been assigned to Senator Amidala as her primary bodyguard on Mandalore; she's fine, isn't she?"

"She is," Ahsoka agreed. She turned and, to his surprise, slumped to the edge of his bed instead of taking the chair next to it. The mattress dipped as she seemed to curl in on herself, her shoulders hunching, her hands folding in her lap, looking much smaller than normal. Smaller than he'd seen her before.

Ever.

Alarmed, he moved, crossing the room in three strides. "Ahsoka?"

Her eyes were swimming with tears as she looked up, meeting his gaze, and he jerked back as if she'd struck him. He'd _never _seen her cry. Not when injured; not when saddened; not when things had looked their bleakest. She hadn't cried when faced with death on Naboo by the blue shadow virus. Hadn't cracked when Bane had threatened to space her – he knew; he'd seen the holo.

The impact of those tears was completely unexpected, settling like a stone in his chest and the _need _to alleviate whatever had caused it had him moving before he consciously considered the consequences. Crouching before her, his hands settled close to either of her hips, the cool metal of her lightsabers pressing against his forearms, he searched her features for what was wrong.

"What is it?" his eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him. "Did someone hurt you?"

"I hurt myself," she admitted on a dejected whisper, her head tilting forward a fraction without losing eye contact. She looked crestfallen. "I'm a horrible Jedi, Rex. I don't _deserve _to be a Jedi."

His eyebrows snapped together. "Says _who_?"

Staring at him, tears trembling on her lashes, she shook her head.

"You're one of the most dedicated, inventive Jedi I know - and that's saying something."

Thankfully, she laughed, reaching up to brush her hands over her cheeks but her laughter was tinged with the sound of her tears. "With Anakin as my Master, I had better be."

"Give me a name, Ahsoka," he urged. "I'll set them straight."

"Me," she whispered, her smile fading. "I'm the... I..."

"You never doubt yourself," he searched her gaze, hurting because she was hurting. "What brought this on?"

She stared at him for a moment before deliberately unclipping her lightsabers from her belt and set them aside, on his pillow, her gaze never leaving his.

He understood the gesture; it was her way of saying that she needed to be just _her_. To be Ahsoka Tano and not Commander Tano or Jedi Padawan Tano; just Ahsoka. After Umbara, it had become a silent, and cherished, sign of something deep and personal about to be shared. "I'd do the same, but," he drew her gaze to the foot of the bed, "I can hardly be more out of uniform than I am now without getting us both into trouble."

She laughed, as he hoped, nearly choking on the sound before giving her head a shake. "Skyguy would never understand."

"I'd _have _the chance to explain?"

Her smile, the barest tilt of her lips, flashed across her features. "Probably not." It died before truly finding purchase, tears glittering on her lashes again. "Do you... remember when we had that talk a few months back," she swallowed, searching his gaze, "the one on the observation deck about... crushes?"

He'd hardly forget it and gave her a sharp nod. His world had been off kilter ever since she'd given him a name to label his feelings for her. Having acknowledged, but knowing he could never act upon, the feelings, he knew the fundamental shift in his view of her was dangerous. It would have, he reflected, been better if he'd been able to leave them as he'd thought them to be. "I remember."

She stared at him for a moment before turning her face away and he swore he saw something akin to shame in her eyes as she did. "I'm... I _like _Lux, Rex," her words were whispered, soft, as if she didn't dare say them any louder and slid between his ribs with the precision of a blade. "I'm a Jedi; I can't afford to. Jedi aren't supposed to get… attached."

"Jedi get attached all the time, Ahsoka," he corrected her with a shake of his head, leaning forward and daring to touch her cheek to draw her gaze back his way, ignoring the way his chest was painfully tight and not just because she was hurting. Her declaration about Lux wasn't easy to take, but he buried it as quickly as he could. "You're attached to Anakin."

"He's my Master; that's different."

"How?"

"He's… he's a Jedi." She faltered, not moving to break his touch, her brow furrowing, "Eventually he'll have to let me go when I'm knighted and end up with a Padawan of my own, to be a Master like he is."

"Like Anakin is with Obi-Wan?" Her smiled faintly. "Masters and Padawans form strong bonds, Ahsoka. Anakin's not just a Jedi. He's your mentor; like… your brother." That was apt and he followed the thought through, trying to reassure her. "Like you are with the men of Torrent Company," he hesitated but continued anyway even though it hurt to admit it. "With me."

There was a momentary pause, heavy with meaning, before she sat back, breaking his hold and his hand dropped to his side.

"My mission to Mandalore didn't go so well," she admitted, the switch in topic catching him off guard as she avoided giving him an answer. Scooting backwards on his bunk, she set her back to the wall and pulled her knees to her chest defensively. "Senator Amidala was fine when I left her..." she paused and then winced. "I abandoned her, Rex; I left my post when I was supposed to be protecting her; I..."

Staying crouched where he was, he took in her defensive posture and, instead of joining her on his bunk as he'd have liked, to pull her close to his side, he slid into the nearby chair and drew it up, next to the edge. "I refuse to believe you abandoned her without good reason," he told her firmly, "and knowing the Senator, she likely gave you permission."

"That doesn't make it right," she protested, confirming his suspicion.

Senator Padmé Amidala was enough like Anakin Skywalker that Rex had come to expect the unexpected with her. Watching Ahsoka as she gathered her thoughts, he realized that he hadn't actually touched on the real reason she was distraught. He suspected he knew what was coming, but didn't push. He waited, with far more patience than he knew he had, as she tilted her head to rest her chin on her knees, her hands before her face. Her fingers visibly trembled before she clenched her hands into fists.

"Lux Bonteri was there, Rex." Her tone was even, almost flat, and without inflection as she dropped the name of the young man she'd mentioned to Rex a few months ago, confirming his suspicion. It didn't last as her voice shifted, taking on a note of hesitancy, and then urgency. "He... spoke out against the Separatists, claiming that he had proof Count Dooku killed his mother, not the Republic as we'd been told. The Separatists... they went crazy, claiming it was an internal matter and hauled him away."

Rex's stomach clenched; he could see where this was going. "You went after him." It wasn't a question.

Ahsoka flinched. "I _had _to," her eyes unfocused and words were whispered, distant, as if she was trying to convince herself more than him. "Padmé said... she said I..." her gaze snapped back to his. "I abandoned my post because I couldn't let them kill him."

"Nor should you," he agreed. Ahsoka considered the boy a friend, no matter what other feelings she possessed, and he'd have been disappointed if she hadn't acted. For all a part of him _didn't _want to hear about her and this Lux character, she _needed _this and he wasn't about to deny her no matter what he felt. It wasn't within him to turn his back when she was obviously hurting. "Were you able to reach him in time?"

"Barely." she exhaled a shaky breath. "It was a close one but we were able to get away from Mandalore and I - can you move those somewhere, Rex?" she looked at her lightsabers. "I can't..."

He reached down and collected both weapons, placing them on the table behind him, blocking her view with his body.

"Thanks. I... where was I?"

"Leaving Mandalore."

Rubbing her forehead with her fingertips, Ahsoka then pulled them away but didn't appear to really see them. "We left Mandalore. I'd intended to bring him here but Lux pulled a blaster on me."

"I hope you kicked him in the _shebs_."

She blinked and then chuckled, shaking her head. "I should have; it might have saved me what came next. He stunned me after I disarmed him. I-"

"He _what _you?"

"Stunned me."

That's what he thought she'd said. He frowned. "With the blaster."

"No, with a hand stunner."

Which meant they'd been closer than he'd anticipated. If Rex ever met the little Bonteri boy, he'd have a thing or two to say about his treatment of Ahsoka. Stunning someone could be dangerous; stunning someone and dragging them into an unknown situation without their permission was completely unacceptable. Especially when that person was Ahsoka. His reply was laced with derision. "That wasn't very friendly of him."

"He was desperate; I wasn't listening to him."

"That's not an excuse to stun you." She exhaled raggedly and Rex relented, tramping down his indignation to deal with her confusion. She needed Rex the friend, not Rex the military commander who objected to his people, of which she was one, being taken against their will. He exhaled, his voice even when he spoke. "How long were you out?"

"I don't know, but I woke up on Carlac."

Frowning as she paused, Rex sought the planet in his memory. "Snow; Ice; indigenous planet-bound nomads?"

She nodded.

"An odd place to take you."

"Not really," Ahsoka swallowed hard. "Deathwatch was on the planet."

Rex came half off the chair before he checked the reaction, his hands clenched at his sides, reaching for the blasters that should have been there. The power of the fierce protective surge the words had wrung from him caught him off guard - and not all of it came from a soldier wanting to protect their Jedi. Or rather, it did, just not in the same manner his brothers would have felt. He would be the first to admit, in the most private recesses of his mind, that his perception of Ahsoka the professional detachment it should have been. Especially after all they'd been through recently with Kiros and Umbara; they'd been through too much together.

Ahsoka was watching him with wide, surprised eyes and Rex realized he'd caught her off guard. Mentally chastising himself for his lack of discipline, he forced himself to sit back down, but leaned forward, spreading his hands deliberately on the top of his bunk. Eyes on hers, his voice was even, measured, certain he'd heard her wrong. "He took you... _where_?"

"To Carlac; he'd made a deal with the Deathwatch."

"And he just... brought you along."

She nodded.

"You. A Jedi. The one kind of being that Deathwatch _hate _above all others."

She nodded again.

"Is he stupid or just blind?"

"He didn't know, Rex," she corrected softly, miserably. "He's been sheltered; he was the son of a diplomat and raised to believe differently than we do. He doesn't... _didn't _have any real knowledge as to the war or the factions or the sides. He just... he wanted to avenge his mother and Deathwatch was willing to help him."

"That's no excuse," Rex protested. "You could have been killed, Ahsoka!"

"I know; and now he does too." Her lips twisted. "Trust me; we won't be visiting any more Deathwatch camps. Once was enough."

Exhaling softly, he grimaced. "I'm sorry; you were trying to tell me something."

"It's... good to know you care, Rexster." She eased her grip on her legs, letting them slide a little across the sheet, but her arms remained wrapped about them and resumed her story. "I was alone in the ship with Artoo when I woke up but Lux had taken my lightsabers."

Rex felt his features tighten, acutely aware of the two cylinders at his back, but restrained himself from interrupting. Ahsoka needed to tell this story and he, to his dismay, found he needed to hear it. If for no other reason than it would help _her_.

"I had Artoo search for them while I went to find Lux; that's when Deathwatch appeared." Her expression changed into one he'd never seen as she tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. There was a moment as she gathered her thoughts and then sighed. "They didn't take to my presence too kindly," she admitted, "I don't know if it's because Lux was supposed to be there alone, or if it's because I wasn't… I'm not…"

"Human."

Ahsoka flinched but nodded. "That's part of it; also because I'm female."

"Why would that matter?"

"Because women, to them, were little more than slaves," she grimaced. "It probably doesn't help I was an idiot and told them I was Lux's intended instead of his bodyguard."

"You… His… _what_?"

"Not one of my brighter ideas."

_No; no it wasn't, _he agreed silently even though he didn't voice the thought. He could see she was kicking herself enough without adding his opinion to it. Ahsoka obviously needed someone to lean on; not someone who was going to tear apart her mistakes and criticize. No matter how much he wanted to.

"Anyway, so they took us back to the Deathwatch camp and put us in this tent alone together and Lux tried to explain what he was doing. Driving through the camp to get there though was… it was kind of like being back in the Trandoshan's hands - except I had my lightsabers."

"When did you get them back?"

"I didn't. Not right away anyway."

"Ahsoka."

"Artoo found them on the ship," her lips tilted at the mention of the droid. "He'd been bringing them to me when Deathwatch showed up and hid them. If he hadn't had them, I might not have come out of there alive."

He didn't follow. "I don't understand; they let you keep them?"

"What?" she blinked and then shook her head as if trying to follow his train of thought. "Let me - no! Oh no; Artoo held onto them until later when we broke out. I simply meant that they were nearby unlike when I was taken by those hunters."

Rex nodded once, in understanding. "What happened next?"

His question brought the most unusual of reactions; her montrals flushed a deep, almost black hue and she looked away. Alarmed, concerned, his brow furrowed upon seeing her lips move but no sound come out.

"Ahsoka?"

Her forehead dropped alarmingly to the top of her knees. Her voice was muffled, but clear, as she repeated what she'd said, confusion clearly present in the statement. "Lux _kissed _me."

He should have expected it.

Knowing how she'd been after the last encounter with the Bonteri boy, Rex had suspected it was only a matter of time before one of them made a move. What he hadn't expected was the impact her words had.

Like getting kicked in the chest, he found it was difficult to breathe or form any kind of coherent response. His hands closed into tight fists, a sharp stab of confused _hurt_ sliding between his ribs to grip his heart. He'd mentally prepared himself for this eventuality but nothing, _nothing _had prepared him for the surge of disappointment her words unleashed.

The silence stretched between them for long seconds which turned into a minute before Ahsoka finally lifted her head to look at him. Her expression was as confused as her voice had been but laced with something had hadn't expect to see; guilt.

It spurred him into speech. He didn't really _want _to know, but she obviously needed to say it to be able to work through it. So he did what was expected of him as her closest friend - as the man who could never have her as more; he asked. "What happened?"

She sighed and winced. "We were arguing about the Deathwatch; Lux was trying to explain that they'd agreed to help him kill Dooku to get revenge on for his mother and I was trying to tell him why it was a bad idea. I remember talking one moment and then Lux was kissing me the next when the leader of the Deathwatch came in. He… kissed me to shut me up."

Rex frowned. "And you didn't deck him?"

"Oh, believe me, I wanted to," she admitted. "I pushed him away but we had an audience so I couldn't really object without putting myself in further danger. If Deathwatch suspected I was a Jedi…"

It was hardly the romantic scenario he'd feared, in fact, it was more like… "Isn't that considered assault on some worlds?"

_That_ made her laugh, softly and once, but _really_ laugh, her posture relaxing a little more. "It is, yes, but if he hadn't…" she shook her head. "I might have given us away Rex; I was so _focused _on getting him to see reason, to make him see that Deathwatch was evil, I didn't sense their approach. Lux cut me off before I could give the game away."

Smart thinking on Bonteri's part, Rex admitted privately for all he didn't like the method. No one knew better than he did just how worked up Ahsoka could get when expounding philosophy on something she believed in deeply. "Did they believe your ruse?"

"They bought it initially; I was put in with some local women they'd... _convinced _to work for them." Her expression darkened, guilt and pain marring her expression. "I took an interest, got to know them, I figured if I had to play the part, I might as well know what I was up against and discovered they were being kept their mostly against their will to serve at the pleasure of Deathwatch."

"Did they all die?"

Ahsoka blinked, jerking back to look at him, confused. "What?"

"You're blaming yourself for something; something related to these women. I can see it." He held her gaze for a moment before repeating his question. "Did they all die?"

She exhaled, her shoulders slumping a little. "No."

"Someone did."

"She… she was the chief's daughter. Tryla. She reminded me of Kalifa - remember the-"

"Padawan who died with you during the Trandoshan mess," he finished with a nod. "I remember."

Ahsoka smiled at him wanly, a small acknowledgement, but didn't expound on Tryla; later in her narrative, he suspected, when the event actually occurred, he'd hear more. "I tried to convince Lux he was wrong about Deathwatch but he didn't want to listen. I... was put to work serving drinks, to Lux in particular, but he wasn't inclined to listen to my warnings."

"Di'kut," Rex interjected grimly. "And not just for ignoring your greater experience."

"His heart was in the right place."

"His _heart_?" the words exploded before he could stop them and Ahsoka recoiled, her back hitting the wall behind her. Despite her withdrawal, he couldn't help himself; the words came out hard and fast, clear criticism for the boy who'd been so cavalier with her life. For a single moment, his feelings found voice. "He _should _have been thinking with his head. Putting you in danger-"

"Rex!"

He bit his tongue, swore – and Ahsoka chuckled.

"Serves you right," easing back into her posture, she loosely wrapped her arms around her knees, "You, of all people, know I can take care of myself."

"Normally you're not surrounded by Deathwatch," the thought was chilling even after the fact; he was glad he hadn't known beforehand.

"Just Trandoshan hunters?"

"Hunters that didn't realize what or who they'd captured. If Deathwatch had discovered you were a Jedi-"

"They did."

Rex froze, biting the inside of his cheek, his fists clenching again as those two words reverberated through his being and, despite the urge to release it, he inhaled and exhaled evenly before trusting himself to speak, deliberately relaxing his hands. "I'm missing something here; between you being undercover and the Deathwatch learning your identity."

"A few things," she agreed, visibly appreciating his restraint and return to topic, her eyes meeting his briefly to convey it before flitting away again. "When Lux wouldn't listen, I thought I'd lost him. The leader of the group, Pre Vizsla, treated him like an equal... or, if not an equal, someone to be respected. He played to Lux's vanity and made promises it seemed he could keep. He played the magnanimous leader, deliberately misleading him; twisting his words..."

At her pause, he leaned forward fractionally when it seemed she was disinclined to continue. "Ahsoka?"

She didn't answer.

"Ahsoka," he managed to catch and hold her gaze. "What did they do?"

"It shouldn't have surprised me," her words were bleak as her knees drew upwards towards her chest again, resuming their defensive pose as her hands tightened around her legs. "They promised the villagers their freedom, saying that they'd leave and never return."

Rex could see where this was headed but remained silent, letting her say it.

"He made a big deal out of it, like he was trying to impress Lux; to show that they could be good guests and comply with... _reasonable _requests." Ahsoka tucked her chin to her knees, but didn't break their eye contact this time. "Lux bought it, which I think was the point. The next day, when we went to the village, the Deathwatch brought all of us women along. It was part of the agreement, their show of good faith, of being good guests. They proceeded to teach the good people a lesson."

"A fatal one."

She nodded, twisting her arms at an impossible angle and folding her fingers together, visibly squeezing. "When they shot the village leader and began to burn their houses down, I..."

He jumped in as she faltered. "You couldn't stand by and watch." Rex reached forward to catch her hands, frowning as he noticed they were unnaturally cool; more so than normal. Without thinking, he enclosed the folded digits together between his warm palms. It left him over extended at an awkward angle but he didn't notice; all he cared about was the stricken look in Ahsoka's eyes.

"I made myself a target, Rex; I tried to help, to save them; to give them a chance and all I did was get myself captured."

"Did they finish burning the village?"

She blinked. "What?"

"After you exposed who and what you were, did they keep burning the village?"

"Well… no. I think they were more interested in a Jedi execution."

"Mission accomplished; by keeping their attention on you and diverting it from their original purpose, you saved the villagers and gave them a chance to salvage what they could."

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

"You're too close to the situation." Rex squeezed her hands and then released them, her fingers having slackened so she was no longer holding herself in a death grip. He was relieved when her legs slid back towards their semi-resting position, an indicator she wasn't feeling so… lost. "What happened after you made them pay for capturing you?"

"You sound so... _sure _of that."

"With the villagers out harm's way and you sitting in front of me now?" he gave her a look which deliberately said she needed to work on her acting skills; a moment of levity that worked.

She grinned, as he'd hoped, the first real smile he'd seen from her even though it didn't last and faded quickly. "They took Lux and I back to camp. I don't think he realized until Pre Vizsla said they were going to kill me exactly what their views on Jedi were." She sighed, drawing on the fabric of her knees with one index finger. "Artoo managed to get me my lightsabers and Lux helped me get free."

_"Really?"_

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment - and then, to his delight, even though it was at his expense, began to giggle. "Oh Rex, if you could see your face! Yes, really. Lux may not be much of a fighter, but he did play his part."

Somehow, Rex managed to keep the second of derision and incredulity he wanted to voice from doing so.

"Artoo helped too. He'd rebuilt the droids that Deathwatch was using for practice purposes and convinced them to help rescue me."

"You fought _with _tinnies?"

Her smile was tongue-in-cheek and reached her eyes this time, her tone taking on a teasing note. "You could say that; I think there was a battle droid or two in there."

"Traitor."

She snorted. "At that point I was willing to take what help I could get. Lux isn't much use with a blaster, but he is pretty handy behind the controls of a speeder."

"In other words, you did all the work while the boy _drove_?"

"We all have our strengths, Rex; it's not like I was going to ask him to take pot shots from a moving vehicle when he had a better chance of hitting me than the Deathwatch creeps. I'm used to having marksmen at my back like you, not Senators who barely know which end of a blaster to hold."

She had a point.

"Not all Senators."

"They can't all have Padmé's training," she agreed and shook her head. "It was a running fight, but we managed to get off Carlac. And then," her face fell, confusion written all over it once more. "And then Lux just… left."

"He spaced himself?"

"He took the escape pod."

So much for wishful thinking on his part, but Rex's animosity towards the young Bonteri was personal in ways Ahsoka wouldn't understand; in ways he wouldn't let on. Nothing in this conversation was convincing him his feelings about the boy he'd never met were anything but justified. "Leaving you the ship and a way home."

She nodded, leaning back against the wall and sighed. "Yeah."

He waited, watching her, sitting back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest, knowing she'd eventually crack and want to know what he was thinking. He kept his expression deliberately neutral, just to annoy her.

She watched him, watching her, and he could see the way she fidgeted, shifting in her seat, her body curling forward over her knees, daring to meet his gaze head on a she stretched her fingers out to gently grasp her own ankles. The silence stretched into minutes before she finally frowned. _"What?"_

"I'm still waiting."

"For what?"

He smiled.

"For the part that makes you such a terrible Jedi."

_fin_


	3. S4, Post Ep 14: Comparison

**Disclaimer:** Star Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas; he created the sandbox. I'm simply destroying the sandcastles.

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**Title:** Comparison

**Author:** Jade_Max

**Characters:** Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex

**Era: Post TCW Season 4, Episode 14 - **AU

**Summary:** After her run in with Lux Bonteri, Ahsoka asks Rex for an unexpected boon.

**Notes:** This is the downgraded version of this fic to be TOS compliant with the TFN and FF sites… Originally written as a birthday gift fic for a friend of mine, I'm sure she won't mind I edited it a little to share some Rex and Ahsoka goodness. :)

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_**Comparison**_

"Have you ever kissed anyone, Rex?"

Rex blinked at the unexpected question from the young Togrutan who sat beside him on the observation deck, her head on his shoulder as they stared out into the endless night of starlines which always marked their hyperspace transit. His brow furrowed, unable to understand what relevance the question had. "Commander?"

"_Ahsoka_," she corrected as she glanced up at him. "Have you ever kissed anyone?"

He stiffened, certain he'd heard her wrong and not liking to the fact he hadn't. "Where'd that come from?"

"I'm curious." she admitted. "I never see you with anyone but your brothers."

"There's not much opportunity to socialize outside our command structure," he admonished. "You know that."

"No, but there is some," she flashed him a grin. "Just answer the question Rex; have you ever kissed anyone?"

"What relevance is that, kid?"

"I thought I asked you not to call me that."

"You're acting like a brat."

"And you're avoiding the question." Pushing away from him, she pinned him with a mock glare.

Unwilling to destroy the moment of peace further than he already had, Rex reached out and pulled her back into his embrace. It was easier to talk to her when she was beside him anyway; having her watch _him_ just made him nervous sometimes.

Of course, that it also served to remind him she was no longer the youngling, the child, the _brat_ he'd just called her, probably didn't help his line of thinking.

She settled back against him with a light jab to the ribs that his armor would have absorbed and his fatigues did nothing to stop. He waited for a few moments, tilting his cheek against the curve of her montrals, knowing she'd feel the words more than hear them.

"Why do you want to know, Ahsoka." She was silent but tensed at his words. "Have _you_ ever kissed anyone?"

"Once," she admitted almost immediately but her words were sad. "It wasn't... what I was expecting."

Rex didn't know how to respond to that; she was one up on _him_. "I haven't," he admitted, hoping to ease her sorrow just a little and then elaborated on his words. They were awkward and felt strange on his lips. "Kissed anyone, that is."

Her heard jerked back and her wide eyes met his. "No one?"

He shook his head.

"Have you come close?"

"Once."

"Once?" She cocked her head. "Why only once?"

"I'm a soldier, Ahsoka; a man bred in a lab to fight and die on the front lines." He held no illusions as to why he'd been created for all he'd begun to truly believe that he didn't _have_ to die fighting for a goal that grew more distant with each passing day. "A relationship would be... inadvisable."

"But a kiss?"

"A precursor, isn't it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Mine certainly wasn't."

"Do I need to have words with one of the men?"

A soft laugh answered his stern inquiry. "No, Rexster; it wasn't one of the men." Her smile slowly faded. "At least if it had been, I don't think I'd... I mean...If _Fives_…" The chevrons on her montrals darkened as she stuttered to a stop, took a deep breath and started again. "It wasn't all it was cracked up to be, to be honest."

Based on what she'd told him of her latest adventures without _him_, it wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking. The punch to his gut was unexpected; a _need_ to do something, _say_ something that contradicted it. He'd considered Ahsoka _his_ for some time and the very thought that someone else had stolen - taken? - what should have been his right to give her brought a surge of indignation and anger he couldn't help. With difficulty he tramped it down. "That Lux kid, right?"

She slanted him a look, no doubt catching the neutrality in his tone and reading it, and his emotional response, he suspected, correctly; he was jealous. Her expression softened. "Would it help if I said it was short and he did it only to shut me up?"

Rex's brows hit his hairline as much from the context she implied as from the revelation that it _had_ helped. It allowed him to be magnanimous. "Not very romantic of him."

"I know," her gaze turned back to the viewport and the shifting star lines for a long minute before she found the courage to speak again. "Would you ever do something like that?"

"Kiss you to shut you up?"

She nodded and he frowned.

"You take orders well enough, why would I have to?"

"Rex?"

"Yes?"

"Would..." she paused. "Would you... I mean, could I-"

"If you need something of me, Ahsoka," he reminded her gently. "All you need do is ask."

"I know, I just..."

He shifted, turning towards her even as she pulled away, seeming uncertain exactly how to phrase her question, her earnest expression almost pained. Searching her features, he watched as she bit her lip, struggling to find the words needed to ask what she wanted. Then, much to his surprise, she leaned forward, planting her hands on either side of his head.

The posture was aggressive, confining and, had she been anyone else, he'd have broken it immediately.

She turned to face him fully, pressing into his side as she leaned in, their noses almost touching and seemed to come to a decision. Her words, as well as her subsequent actions, caught him by complete surprise.

"Kriff it!"

His eyes widened as she closed the distance between them, her lips settling over his, her face tilted at a slight angle as the seams of their mouths slid along one another. Her kiss was awkward, unpracticed and hesitant, as if she were unsure of his response, but held a banked enthusiasm that struck a chord within him he wasn't expecting.

He might have considered Ahsoka _his_, but this… this reaffirmed it; echoing within him with a certainty and deliberation that set her name resounding within his soul like a cadence on a drum.

His lips softened under hers, his hands finding hers on his face, covering them as he tilted his head to better mesh their mouths together. The chaste kiss broke, their eyes locking and he unconsciously licked his lips to taste her kiss, the tip of his tongue touching her swollen mouth and making her eyes widen.

"Rex-" her breath hitched.

His name on her lips was the sexiest thing he'd ever heard

It set off warning bells in the back of his mind. Their position was intimate, _too_ intimate, and he needed to recapture the distance between them immediately. His fingers folded about hers, gently prying her hands from his face as he leaned away from her. "We have to stop."

She blinked, her eyes half lidded, gleaming nearly black in the semi darkness. She looked as disoriented as he felt. "Stop?"

"Stop," he confirmed, reluctantly. He didn't want to, but this couldn't go any further than that simple exploration. Their breathing was slightly ragged in the stillness of the room and it took all of Rex's considerable discipline to maintain what little remained of his composure and to _not_ embarrass himself in the aftermath of his first kiss. "This isn't-" swallowing with difficulty, he folded her hands between his, unable to find the right words.

The time was wrong.

The place was wrong.

If there was ever going to _be_ a time for them, the observation deck of the _Resolute _between missions certainly wasn't it.

Stretching between them, the silence was a heavy, pregnant thing before Ahsoka finally smiled. Her lips tilted into the kind of sad, resigned smile he hated to see but, in this instance, knew was for the best. She took a deep breath, disengaging herself from her half inclined position along his chest and reclaimed her hands before resuming her previous position at his side.

His mind was spinning, slightly muddled, relieved to finally have her looking away but, at the same time disappointed.

Nervous that he'd done wrong in the wake of that kiss when she kept her distance, sitting beside him, but no longer leaning against him, he was about to ask if he'd done something to offend her when she sighed and shifted her head to lay it against his shoulder. Tilting her head, Ahsoka lifted her gaze to his.

"Thanks Rex."

He arched his eyebrows, relief flooding through him. _That_ was the last thing he'd expected to come out of her mouth.

"If anyone asks," she continued as her lips curved into a shy smile, "_you_ were my first kiss, okay?"

He lifted his hand, turning to partially face her, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, his words almost sad. "No; I wasn't."

"But you wanted to be."

He didn't deny it, didn't say anything, still looking down into her eyes, his thumb teasing the corner of her mouth. She didn't seem to mind and didn't pull away.

"Will you accept the most memorable?"

They shared a smile.

"I'll consider it."

Her lips curved under his thumb.

"How about this then? To make it all official like-"

"There was _nothing_ official about that kiss."

"Hmm, I like that," she kissed the pad of his thumb and he inhaled sharply. "You may not have been my first kiss, Rex, but there's no comparison."

His words were soft. "That bad huh?"

She blinked, obviously surprised by his interpretation. "Uh - no. That's not what I-"

"Horrible then?" He knew he was teasing, but couldn't resist; it helped the tension between them start to dissolve.

"Rex-"

"Awful?

_"Rex-"_

"Turned you off kissing for good?"

"You _win_, Rex!" she cut him off with a laugh, "You win hands down, okay? There's no comparison."

He looped his arm back around her shoulders, and squeezed, drawing her against his side once more. Staring down at her, he marveled at how he could have ever been so lucky to deserve someone like her in his life even as he teased her. The whys of this being a bad idea were relegated to the recessed of his mind as he decided he had to repeat the experience; just once more. "Comparison to whom?"

"Rex!"

"Yes?"

She slipped her arm around his waist and hugged him tightly. "That might as well have _been_ my first kiss!"

"I'm glad to hear it, Commander, but haven't you heard?"

"I hear a lot of things." She sassed at him. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Practice," he countered, bending his head towards hers, his expression teasing despite his very real intent, "makes perfect."

_fin_


	4. S5, Post Ep 20: Beyond A Shadow Vig V AU

**Author's Note: **I don't think me doing an AU of this Vig is a surprise to anyone :p I've a few other ideas for this whole last part of season 5, and a bunch for other places in the season, so this thread will be going strong for a while - just depends when I have time to write them.

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** SPOILER ALERT: This Vignette takes place after Episode 20 in SEASON 5 of TCW! If you do not wish to be spoiled, DO NOT READ!**

**Beyond a Shadow… Vig V - Rexsoka AU**

"Rumor has it-"

As her foot hit the last stair of the temple steps, the familiar voice reached her, stopping her in her tracks and drawing her around. Decked out in full kit, his bucket clipped to his belt, Rex looked every inch the Captain he was when she'd last seen him. Leaning casually against the base of one of the statues that guarded the perimeter of the Jedi temple, he wore a serious expression belied only by the relief visible in the depths of his gaze.

A relief coupled with a heat she'd come to recognize and anticipate - but one she dreaded now. She wished for nothing more in those hear beats than to be able to throw herself into his arms and cling, to never let go; to let him take this burden from her and to find solace in his embrace. But she couldn't. Her life had irrevocably changed and Rex… Rex had no idea yet just how fundamentally it would affect _them_.

"-you've been reinstated and will be rejoining our ranks."

"Didn't I ever tell you never listen to rumors?"

"What else am I supposed to do with you getting yourself into heaps of trouble and being ordered to sit it out? See what happens when I don't have your back?"

Despite being in no mood to banter, Ahsoka found a smile and shook her head; Rex had always been able to lift her spirits. "I really should know better by now, huh?"

"Yes; you should." He straightened, his expression suddenly serious and held his hand out. She accepted it without so much as a glance around, allowing him to pull her close, his fingers twining with hers as he lifted them to his lips, pressing a heartfelt kiss to the backs of her fingers. "I never doubted you were innocent, Ahsoka. Anyone who knows you knew you couldn't have killed those men."

Which implied the men closest to her under her comm… _former_ command.

"Rex-" Her throat closed.

He wasn't holding her the way she wished yet, but they were close, closer than normal in public his grip on her hand tight, almost desperate. As if now that he held her again, woe to anyone who sought to separate them. A nod, no doubt, to the fact she'd nearly been torn from him forever.

What he couldn't yet know was that she already had been.

Anakin and Rex had been in her corner from the start, working to clear her name, and to the end when she'd been exonerated. Somewhere behind her, Anakin still stood at the top of the stairs; she could feel his presence, a silent sentry as she exited this chapter of her life.

In contrast, Rex was unaware of what had happened within the council chambers bare minutes ago. Telling Anakin had been hard enough, but telling Rex would be wore. Not just because he'd not been privy to the meeting but because of what they had been slowly building between them.

Her relationship with Anakin had always been sibling to sibling, but Rex… Rex was her rock, her best friend who was _more_ than just a friend. He'd given her a taste of freedom and complete unconditional acceptance from the start. He was her partner, her confidante; he was everything to her… and she was being forced to walk away. To leave him behind when she wanted nothing more than to continue at his side; to protect him and be protected. To be accepted and accept; to cherish him in ways she'd only begun to understand as she was exposed to the deepening feelings between them.

She swallowed hard, unable to continue.

Rex lifted his free hand and gently brushed the side of her head when she didn't continue. "Missing something?"

Her hand lifted of its own accord to where the string of beads that had been her Padawan braid would have hung; the braid that she would never wear again. The braid that hadn't been cut as was her right, but stripped from her because the council has lost its faith in her and surrendered her as a sacrifice to the Republic's corrupted need for justice at any cost.

"No."

Rex's eyebrows rose. "Wasn't that your Padawan braid?"

"I won't need it anymore," she told him softly, the strength of her conviction still reverberated within her but, knowing she was about to disappoint him, made her quiet.

"You're no longer a Padawan?"

"I'm no longer a Jedi."

The even way she said it fell between them with the power of a turbolaser hit. She felt the impact of her words through the Force but more, she _saw _it. Rex lost his mask of polite professionalism, the stunned look on his face one she'd hoped to incite more often… but not like this. That surprise morphed as she watched, Rex recovering, anger asserting itself and his outburst was louder than it needed to be.

"You were framed;_ innocent_!" His outburst dropped to a lethally low level. "That's _all_ that should matter; they _have_ to reinstate you!"

"They offered, Rex," she corrected him, placing one hand on the side of his face so he'd have to _see_ her conviction; to calm himself. "They offered me everything I'd wanted; said I'd passed my trials and were going to reinstate me as a Knight."

Staring at her, he searched her face as her fingers traced the line of his cheekbone, her other hand still caught against his chest where it had dropped. Understanding and disappointment dawned, his anger slipping away. When he spoke, it wasn't a question. "You turned them down."

"I did."

He closed his eyes, bowing his head to hers for a moment, their foreheads touching. His breath was ragged as he seemed to absorb the hit like a physical thing.

Her eyes burned, aching with unshed tears as she watched him struggle with the implications. His free arm slid around her waist, drawing her closer, holding her to him in a grasp that was as steely as it was gentle.

Rex held her for long moment before his head slowly lifted and his amber gaze clashed with hers. There was such a myriad of emotion in his eyes, she couldn't read them all, but for all his turbulence, respect and understanding shone the brightest. Rex knew her better than anyone, even Anakin, and if anyone would understand _why_ she'd made the decision she had, it would be him.

"Principles?"

She nodded. After a moment of silence, he gave her the answer she'd hoped to elicit from Anakin.

"I understand."

After Anakin's pleas, it was a balm to her injured soul that Rex didn't protest, didn't plead. He simply accepted her decision, respected it. She could see his wish to do otherwise in his eyes, but here, at the end of their time together, he was letting her go with dignity.

Contrarily, she wished he would ask her to reconsider. She wasn't leaving the order because of Anakin or the men and, standing with Rex as she was, she couldn't help but feel guilty she was all but abandoning them. All because her principles dictated she couldn't stay within an Order who wouldn't support and trust her.

Rex exhaled and she felt the breath across the sensitive skin of her montrals, making her shiver. His hand released hers, both arms now around her as he pulled her into a tight hug, his lips against the curve of one montral. "I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to leave," she countered, wrapping her arms tightly about his waist, tears streaking her cheeks as she clung to him tightly. "But I can't…"

"I know."

There was silence between them for a moment. "I wish there was another way, Rexster." Her thoughts turned towards the temple and the lone figure at the top of the stairs that was hidden by the statue beside her. "Anakin's going to need you now; you'll need to make sure he doesn't get himself killed with his crazy schemes of the day."

"I'll watch out for the General," he assured her quietly.

"I appreciate it, Rex." She lifted her head to meet his gaze again. "He's… not happy about this."

"Neither am I."

"You're better at hiding it."

"No; I just know there's nothing I can say that will change your mind." He paused, his grip on her slackening a fraction. "Is there?"

She laughed sadly and shook her head. "No, Rex. This is it." Stepping back reluctantly and letting him go, she brushed one hand across her eyes. "I won't be going back; I _can't_."

"I know." He paused a second and then reached under his kama, pulling out two, familiar cylindrical objects she'd thought lost for good; trust Rex to have found them again. "What should I do with these?"

It was reminiscent of the last time he'd done this for her and her throat closed. Last time she'd asked for them back but this time… her throat ached and her fingers clench into fists. More than anything she wished she could accept the gift he offered, to feel their familiar, comforting weight - but she couldn't. She didn't reach for them and shook her head, the words slipping out before she considered the implications. "Keep them."

He looked surprised. "Me?"

"Why not?" The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. She was no longer a Jedi and didn't have the right to wield them, but Rex… "If Anakin loses his, you can give him a spare."

"I don't think the General will understand me having your lightsabers."

Ahsoka laughed softly. "He doesn't know you have them again, does he?" putting up one hand, she forestalled his answer. "Of course he doesn't. Do what you want with them Rex." The lighsabers stayed in his open palm for a moment before Ahsoka, in a move so eerily reminiscent of the earlier scene with Anakin in the Council Chamber, reached out to fold his fingers around them. "I can't take them with me. Keep them; they might come in handy."

"I'm not exactly qualified on a lightsaber."

"Neither was I when I started," she teased. "Think of them as my gift to you; something to remember me by."

"I don't need these for that."

"But if you have them, I know they're safe."

He stared at her and finally nodded, clipping them away and out of sight again. His hands moved to his waist and her own eyes widened as, with a very practiced flick of his wrist, his weapon's belt was removed and settled about her own hips.

"Rex, what-"

"My gift to you," he countered, fastening the belt and keeping his fingers around the clasp when she made to reach for it, to remove it and give it back, her hands settling over his and unable to reach the buckle.

"They're your blasters, Rex; I can't-"

"You'll need a weapon," he smiled faintly. "This way I know you'll have one you know how to use."

His gift was beyond price; Ahsoka knew just how much work he'd put into them, modified and re-modified to his preferences. What more, she _knew_ just how important a trooper's weapons were to them; like an extension of themselves or a limb. For Rex to offer… "I can't accept these."

"You'll need a weapon as you're not taking your lightsabers."

"I know how much work you put into these blasters, Rex; what they mean to you; I couldn't-."

"It means more to me to know you've got a weapon that works; one that's seen action and can be trusted." His expression was intent, his fingers still on the clasp at her waist. "Remember; safety off, brace yourself and use both hands if you can. They're higher powered than a typical blaster and you'll need to practice to master the recoil."

"I remember," she returned, their time on Naboo between them for a moment. It had marked a definite shift in their personal relationship. "Two hundred and fifty high powered bolts instead of the standard five to a power pack, right?"

His delight at her memory was visible in the way his eyes crinkled. "Right."

They stared at one another for a moment. When Rex seemed to realize he was still holding her, his fingers loosened and then shifted, tugging at the weapon's belt to settle it properly on her hips. Ahsoka let him fuss; it would be the last time for a long time, if ever, he'd get the chance. He lingered over the task, despite the sharpness of his movements and when he finally stopped, he stayed close and Ahsoka made note of the weight at her hips and how it sat.

Different, but reassuring. Still… "I shouldn't take them both, Rex; keep one."

He shook his head. "I can requisition and modify new ones. I'm told they're worth their weight in credits with all the modifications - should it come to that."

It took a moment for that to sink in and, when it did, Ahsoka recoiled. "_Sell_ them?"

"If you have to."

"Never!"

"Just one then." He smiled faintly and she returned it, buoyed by his faith in her. "But only if you have to; I _did _put a lot of work into them."

She laughed. "I'll take good care of them, Rex."

"They'll take good care of you too, if you let them."

"Just like you always have." She wanted to say something more but couldn't find the words and instead reached out to touch his hand, sliding her fingers back into his with a squeeze. "Thank you."

He returned the gesture before letting her go and turning the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Where will you go now?"

"Onderon, maybe, or Alderaan." She sighed, shaking her head, her hands dropping to the stocks of his blasters. They were strange, yet familiar; a reminder of better times - of _him_. She ran her fingers along the unfamiliar seams suddenly glad that, if she had to go, she could take a little piece of him with her. "I'm not sure. All I know is that I can't stay here."

He didn't disagree. "I could go with you."

"I'd never ask it of you."

"I know." Rex's tone was resigned. "Someone has to look out for the men with you going AWOL."

"Hard to be AWOL when I'm no longer military," she pointed out wryly.

He arched his eyebrows. "That's true"

"Just think; you won't have to watch my back anymore."

"And trust shinies at mine?"

"Jesse and Kix," she came back immediately. "Unless you're going to promote them; Jesse's got the makings of a good Sergeant."

"He does."

"Then maybe he can keep _you_ out of trouble while you keep Anakin in line."

"Maybe."

He looked so solemn, so _intent _in that moment that Ahsoka couldn't help it; she laughed. "No one will ever accuse you of mincing words, Rex." His silent shrug made her laugh again before her smile started to fade, the realization that this would be the last time they were together like this for a long time, possibly the _last_ time, settling about her shoulders with a sudden sense of finality. "I'm gonna miss this."

He arched his eyebrows. "The war?"

"Your company; this." She made a motion with one hand between them. "Just… talking; being together. Sharing."

"Likewise, Ahsoka." He seemed disinclined to say anything more, but surprised her, reaching up to cup her cheek and brush the tears that had begun to escape again with the pad of his thumb. "It won't be the same without you; keep in touch if you can."

"I'll try." She exhaled, leaning into his touch. "I'm sorry I'm running out on you and the men. That I'm leaving. If I saw any way I could stay..."

"You're not running out on us. Don't ever think it." He told her firmly. "It takes integrity to make the choice you've made."

"But where does that leave us?"

"About the same as before," he countered with a soft smile. "Just without the proximity."

"I feel like I'm abandoning you; abandoning _us_."

"Don't," he brushed another tear from her cheek. "I understand why you have to go."

"Anakin doesn't understand; he blames the council."

"He will; give him time."

"Optimism, Rex?"

"You taught me that."

"Nothing very optimistic about this situation is there?"

There was nothing he could say to that and they both knew it. Looking deep into his eyes, she could see how much this was hurting him and, to stay true to herself, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Take care of yourself," he finally settled on. "There won't be anyone to watch your back on daily basis now but you."

"And your blasters."

"And them."

"It's my honor and privilege to have served with you, Ahsoka; you were the best Jedi I've ever worked with; and that includes the General."

"Flatterer."

There was an edge to his words however that concerned her as he tilted his forehead to hers, drawing her back into his arms for a tight, intense hug. She went willingly, knowing he needed the contact as much as she did and unwilling to let him go just yet. How could she leave him… but how could she stay?

"You're leaving with half of me," he admitted raggedly, tears now bright in his eyes but not falling. "I don't know how to let you go."

"Rex…" she clung to him, feeling the same way but knowing she couldn't stay. "I'm leaving half of myself with you, too." She searched his gaze. "Keep it safe for me?"

"Always."

Her eyes fluttered closed as his head tilted, his lips settling softly upon hers, tasting the desolation and despair mixed with the pride he felt in those moments. The kiss depended for a moment, her hand sliding around his neck as she pressed herself more fully against his plastoid shell. Caught in the poignant kiss that had every potential to be their last, Ahsoka wished his armor could have been missing in that moment.

The kiss was everything it should have been; poignantly bittersweet and a touch desperate as they tried to convey what they felt but didn't fully understand.

He pulled back first, inhaling an uneven breath, and her eyes fluttered open as he touched his forehead back to hers. "Good luck."

"You too," she backed away, reluctantly breaking his hold and knowing it was time to go. If she lingered any longer, she wasn't sure she'd have the strength to leave after everything else. "Watch your back, Rexster."

He smiled then; a _real_ that reached his tear-filled eyes and stretched his lips to each side of his face for all it had a desolate edge. "You too, Ahsoka." His expression turned stern, "I expect to see you again soon."

"You will," she assured him, wishing she knew for sure as she turned to go, tears blurring her eyes and making it impossible to see the path before her. "I promise Rex; I won't be gone too long."

"I'll be holding you to that."

As she walked away, not looking back, Ahsoka didn't voice her thoughts to him; couldn't. _Just be here when I do, Rex, _she prayed silently. _Be here… _

_fin_


	5. S4, Ep 14: Friend in Need AU

**Author's Note: **This Vig references [in passing] the events written in my "Captain and Commander" _canon_ Vignette series, specifically the one labeled "Fallout" [and the as of yet unposted Fallout II]. It's not necessary to have read it to understand this fic.

Big, _big_ thank you to _**sachariah**_ for looking at this for content and 'realism' before it went live. Without his suggestions, it wouldn't be the piece it is.

* * *

**A Friend in Need**

_Season Four, Episode Fourteen - AU_

Rex woke to the sound of the engines suddenly going from standby to engaged, rolling out of his bunk, blaster in hand and facing the door, before the pressure registered. In his battle stance, one knee to the ground, braced and ready, he managed not to get kicked back to the bunk and loose his balance as the ship tilted wildly, speeding off the landing pad.

The dull thus of blaster bolts hitting the hull could be heard over the screaming of the inertial compensators as they attempted to keep gravity inside the ship at a level that wouldn't crush its occupants. In the moments it took for the ship to gain airspace, Rex senses snapped straight into full awareness.

The door to the cabin was closed, his comlink showing no sign of attempted communication, but the escape velocity and angle of the ship told him there would only be one of two pilots at the helm. And, since his General wasn't present for this mission, it could only be the Padawan he'd been assigned to spell as bodyguard.

_Ahsoka._

Wondering what could have possibly sent them into orbit without so much as a comm. call for assistance, Rex didn't even take the time to armor up. Retrieving his second blaster, Rex stepped to the door and pressed the activation panel. It slid open near silently, the hum of the engines drowning out any voices.

To be safe, Rex checked the back of the ship, peeking into the room the Senator had been assigned, noting she was absent and there was no sign of her. He frowned. They were assigned to the Senator as bodyguards; either the ship had been stolen or Ahsoka - and it _had_ to be Ahsoka at the helm based on that take off - had pulled them off Mandalore in a hurry _without_ the Senator.

Advancing at a slow, measured pace, not unaware that Jedi could be bested, Rex caught the sound of voices from the cockpit. He turned in that direction, the heated tones of his Commander making him speed up a little.

After she'd found him broken and desolate on Umbara, his faith in the Jedi shattered by the machinations of the Besalisk Jedi, she'd gone to bat for him with her Master. Arguing that he needed time away after the events, she'd pitched this mission as an easy, but serious, well deserved rest while the rest of his men were given a chance. Rex wondered, as he approached the cockpit, if anything involving Ahsoka could ever be _easy_.

As he drew closer, he could heard two distinct voices, one of them belonging - unsurprisingly - to Ahsoka, the other to a male he didn't recognize. Nearing the door, he pressed his ear to it, exhaling softly and listening. Was the male friend or foe?

Ahsoka's next words settled it.

_"The only one you're going to get killed is yourself!" _There was a pause and, as she spoke next, Rex pressed the door release. _"I'm sorry, but I'm taking you to Coruscant."_

The door slid open to reveal a sight not completely unexpected and Rex took it all in at a glance.

Ahsoka was at the controls, her hands moving across the panels as she set about adjusting their course. The young man standing next to her wasn't someone he'd seen before.

Shorter than he was, the young man wasn't, in Rex's opinion, much to look at. About the same height as his Commander, the boy sported brown hair, messy and unkempt; _sloppy _like one of the holostars Ahsoka had shown him on a whim. He gauged him to be roughly about Ahsoka's age and dressed in an expensive looking uniform without any kind of official markings or visible weapons. Almost as if he'd not chosen an allegiance yet and wouldn't fight for it.

Ahsoka's comment gave him the impression that the young man wasn't holding her hostage, if that was even possible, but under her protection. His blaster lowered as Ahsoka continued to speak, Rex remaining a silent spectator in the doorway to the tableau before him.

"Your plan hasn't exactly been well thought out-"

Rex caught a glimpse of movement, slow and subtle, from the young man's right hand; the hand opposite Ahsoka. Even as Rex narrowed his eyes on it, the other man palmed something from his belt; a boxy, black item that looked like a droid disruptor… or stunner. Whatever it was, even from this angle, Rex could tell it was a weapon; he recognized the preparatory postures.

_"Ahsoka!" _

Propelling himself into the room with a single lunge of his legs, Rex moved without thinking. His cry drew the attention of both of the room's occupants, the boy's eyes widening in surprise. His blasters clattering to the ground behind him, Rex tackled the boy to the ground beside the pilot's chair. Rex's hand closed about the boy's right wrist, hauling it back and up as they hit the deck. The boy cried out, flailing as Ahsoka turned on them. The embarrassingly brief scuffle ended as Rex slammed his elbow into the side of the boy's head and he went limp.

"Rex? What are you _doing_?!"

He glanced up from his now crouched position to meet Ahsoka's incredulous gaze, her eyes wide and visibly shocked at his actions. Rex reached down and plucked the boxy black item from the now slack grip of his target. Just to ensure he wasn't being played, Rex kept one knee square in the center of his shoulders. "He was going for this."

Ahsoka took the box and examined it. "A stunner."

"A stunner."

They shared a look before Ahsoka turned a very disapproving one on the boy beneath him. "Guess that tells me what my rescue of him is worth, huh?"

"Rescue?" Rex arched his eyebrows, glancing at the boy and back to her. A knot of some unknown emotion lodged itself in his gut. "I thought we were on Mandalore to guard Senator Amidala."

Ahsoka, to her credit, looked a little guilty. "We were. Padmé told me to help Lux."

"Lux?"

She motioned to the boy Rex still held to the floor though it was obvious he was out cold. "The Separatists killed his mother, Mina Bonterri. You remember me telling you about her, right?" Ahsoka didn't wait for his answer. "I think they were going to kill him too."

"The kid's a seppie?" Even as he asked the question, Rex was turning the name over in his head.

Bonterri.

Rex frowned, the name ringing a bell. It took him a moment to remember where from and his disapproval was immediate. The last time Ahsoka had gone off with Senator Amidala, the good Senator had taken her into Separatist occupied space to 'meet an old friend'; a friend who had a son Ahsoka's age. Apparently that son was the same boy lying unconscious on the floor of the cockpit beneath his knee. Rex ground it just a touch more into the boy's back, a petty, unprofessional part of him hoping he bruised easily.

"He denounced the Separatists at the meeting and accused them of killing his mother; not that he's a big fan of the Republic either, but he's not siding with the enemy anymore at least."

"And how do you explain that," Rex nodded to the stunner.

"Lux wants to kill Dooku, Rex."

Rex couldn't help it; he snorted. "Kid'll have to get in line." Pulling Lux's arms behind his back, Rex suddenly wished he'd taken the time to put on his armor; his binders were still in his belt. "Better warriors than him have had their sights set on the Count for a lot longer. It'll take more than a stunner to eliminate the head of the Separatists."

"He says he has a plan and allies," Ahsoka shook her head. "Maybe you should let him up."

"I'll toss him in the brig."

"The co-pilot seat is fine, Rex; he'll be out for a while." She placed the stunner on the other side of her, well out of reach. "Search him for weapons; without one, he can't surprise me."

"Ahsoka-"

She turned completely to face him, her knees touching his as they entered the already cramped space between pilot and co-pilot chairs. "It's okay, Rex; Lux won't hurt me."

"Won't-" Rex cut himself off. Staring at her, so close, their knees touching, Rex had the urge to drag the boy out of the cockpit by his shiny new boots and lock him away as far from Ahsoka as possible. After their discussion on Umbara and how she'd held him when he'd cracked and finally broken down in the privacy of her quarters, part of him was viciously protective and, surprisingly, _possessive_ of the Padawan. She might be his superior officer, but she was also his friend - yet… _more_.

He just didn't know how to quantify what he felt beyond the proprietary sense that had engulfed him since she'd seen him at his worst in the aftermath of the Umbaran massacre. Watching the kid prepared to attack her, lethal force or not, Rex found he couldn't stem the possessive, protective bent of his feelings and didn't want to. Ahsoka was _his _partner; _his _to protect. He didn't want to even _think _about what could have happened if he hadn't been there. "Then what was the stunner for, Ahsoka?"

"Probably to knock me out."

"For what? For _fun_? Kicks? He could have done anything to you once you were unconscious."

"Lux _won't_ hurt me, Rex," she repeated it as if it would make it true, "if he _was _going to stun me, it's only because I wasn't listening to him."

"You don't listen to me plenty and I have _never _tried to knock you out!"

"Can you tell me you haven't wanted to?"

He didn't even think about it. "Yes."

"Well… Lux isn't you, Rex, I'm sure he had his reasons why he thought it was necessary. If you hadn't knocked him out, we could ask."

"He was going to _stun_ you, Ahsoka!"

"But he didn't; you stopped him."

"And if I hadn't been here?" He searched her gaze, one hand gripping the seat of her chair next to her hip, trying to convey the depth of his concern and frustration. Her trust of a boy who'd just tried to assault her boggled his mind. "If he _had_ stunned you? He could have taken you anywhere; _done_ anything," the thought made him sick and mad all at the same time, "and you would have been powerless to stop him."

"Done…" she shook her head. "What would he have done? Tied me up? Taken me some place I didn't want to go? Not exactly fates worse than death."

"He could have assaulted you worse," Rex countered grimly, marveling at the need to spell it out for the usually quick on the uptake Jedi. "You're a fine looking female, Ahsoka; once you were unconscious, he could have taken advantage."

"Lux isn't like that, Rex."

"If he was prepared to stun and potentially kidnap you, there's no telling what he's capable of. You can't trust him!"

"Rex…" Hesitantly, Ahsoka placed one hand on his shoulder, ducking her head a little so that their eyes connected completely. Unspoken, they communicated, Ahsoka seeming to understand what he was feeling for all he didn't know himself. Her fingers squeezed, her expression softening. "Your worst case scenario didn't happen, okay? I'm fine; _we _are fine."

He exhaled, seeing the logic of her argument for all his blood was still burning.

She squeezed his shoulder again. "I'll be okay with him."

"It's not you I'm worried about."

She laughed softly at his grumbled, grim comment. "Just toss him in the chair and then go grab your binders, would you? For all he can't hurt me, I'd be more comfortable if he's tied up when he comes to."

It was a reminder he was still in his bodyglove and he cracked a faint smile. "I think I'll toss him in the brig anyway."

"We don't have a brig."

"Confine him to quarters then; I don't trust him."

"Rex…"

He shook his head, his smile disappearing. Leaving his knee square in the middle of Lux's back, he turned his torso to face her completely. Reaching up with the hand not tied to the shoulder she was grasping, he hesitated for a moment and then cupped her face. She looked startled, visibly surprised by his action, but didn't - to his intense relief - pull away.

"What are you-?"

"Ahsoka." She quieted, allowing him to speak. "Lux tried to attack you; to stun you. You can't just brush that off because you think of him as a friend. If I, or one of the men, tried it, you wouldn't trust us at your back again and you shouldn't trust _him_ as far as you can throw him."

"That's a pretty long way, Rexster."

Her attempt at levity was lost as his thumb traced her cheek bone of its own accord, her skin cool and smooth underneath his calluses. He was so focused on making his point that he failed to consciously notice the action. "Whatever you think you know about this boy, you haven't known him for very long. For him to turn on you like this, for whatever reason especially after you rescued him, _proves_ you can't trust him."

"He's _harmless_, Rex," she lifted her hand to cover his, drawing his attention to it and stopping the unintentional caress. "Harmless; I don't think he even knows _how_ to shoot a blaster properly."

Rex let his hand drop, taking hers with it. "He's _not_ harmless; that stunner proves it. You can't underestimate him. If he's willing to turn on you once, he'll do it again."

"You can't know that."

"Are you willing to take that risk?" he shook his head when she made to answer. "I'm not, Ahsoka. Not when it comes to you."

She stared at him and Rex pulled away, wondering if he'd said too much and not entirely sure what he might have said too much of. Bending down, he patted Lux down for other weapons, finding a vibro knife which he promptly handed to Ahsoka. He tried not to notice when her fingers brushed his, seeming to linger for a heartbeat longer than necessary before slipping away.

"He's out cold Rex; I can handle him until you get back."

Rex shook his head; the thought of leaving Ahsoka in the cockpit with the other young man, unconscious or not, didn't sit well with him. "I'm not giving him that second chance. You said the Senator sent you after him?"

"She authorized me to go, yes."

"Good; I'll lock him in her room."

Ahoska turned back to the console with a shake of her head. "Good as anywhere I suppose. Be quick, Rex; Artoo is good company, but you're better."

Bending down, Rex grabbed Lux by the back of the jacket, hauling him upright and then over one shoulder. He considered dragging him out of the cockpit by his feet, but Ahsoka's vehement defense of the boy's character cautioned him it was probably a bad idea. He paused only to retrieve one of his blasters before exiting the cockpit, reluctantly leaving the other where it had fallen.

He'd come back for it later.

Passing the astromech in the corridor, Rex took Lux to Senator Amidala's room. Keying open the door, he stepped in just as his cargo began to stir. Dropping the boy unceremoniously to the bed, he backed away to the doorway, folding his arms over his chest, blaster held casually along one bicep. It wasn't pointed at the boy, but a twist of his wrist and it would be.

Lux groaned, shaking his head and promptly grasped it in both hands, covering the impact site of Rex's elbow.

Rex didn't even try and quell the satisfaction he felt watching that action. "You're lucky to be alive to feel that."

The boy's head came up sharply, dark eyes clashing with his own, and Rex waited as he was inspected, knowing what Lux would see. A man; a very short blond-haired human male, just above average height, dressed in what would look to be a body stocking - unless he was familiar with clones, Rex suspected Lux wouldn't have a clue who he was looking at.

He wasn't disappointed as recognition flared in the boy's eyes. _"You!"_

Rex nodded once and then twisted the blaster as the boy made to come off the bed, stopping him where he was. "Far enough."

"Do you know what you've done?"

That was a loaded question. "You'll have to be a little more specific," Rex told him almost nonchalantly. "I know what I've done; what you think it is I've done could be different."

"My associates need the information I'm carrying," Lux countered. "I'm already late for our rendezvous!"

"And you're going to continue being late," Rex agreed, twitching his blaster again when Lux shifted on the bed and gingerly touched his swelling cheek. "Unless you missed it, kid, you're weaponless and now my prisoner."

"Let me talk to Ahsoka-"

"Not a chance."

"Ahsoka!" the kid raised his voice, yelling beyond Rex to the open corridor. _"Ahsoka!"_

Rex let him yell, gratified when Ahsoka either didn't hear him, or did and failed to respond. That they were far enough away from the cockpit to be drowned out by the hum of the engines wasn't lost on Rex. He preferred to think that Ahsoka trusted him to handle Lux and was leaving it in his hands.

"She's not coming."

Lux tried once more before slumping back against the wall, still cradling his face. "Who are you; I thought we were alone on this ship."

"First mistake, never assume."

"And you are?"

"Rex." He decided to leave off his rank for the moment; he wasn't exactly dressed for the part even if he was certain the kid couldn't miss the fact he was a soldier.

"Rex." Lux's lips twisted derisively. "Have you any idea what a mess you've made?"

"Before or after I knocked you senseless?"

"Idiot," Lux snapped haughtily, "if you hadn't interfered, we'd be on our way to getting the information requested by my associates to them; on our way to killing Dooku!"

"Jedi have tried to kill the Count and failed. You and whatever group you've fallen in with don't stand a chance against him."

"That's where you're wrong," Lux grimaced, tilting his head, visibly trying to alleviate the pain in his face. "We're more than a match for Dooku; his arrogance will be his undoing!"

"One could say the same think about you, kid." Rex shook his head. "Trying to attack a Jedi is a good start."

"I wouldn't have hurt her," protested Lux. "She's a friend."

"You've got a funny way of showing it."

"What would you know; you don't know her!" Rex arched his eyebrows, saying nothing as Lux continued. "If you knew anything about her, you'd know she would understand I'm doing what I have to."

The worst part, Rex decided, was that the kid was right. Ahsoka _would_ understand and forgive him, given the chance. "Disrespecting her experience and opinion and stunning her into unconsciousness to get your way isn't just selfish, it's a gross misappropriation of her trust. Especially," Rex growled as he stepped forward, grasping Lux's tunic in one hand and lifting him off the bed, the boy's hands immediately doing to his wrist and fingers in an attempt to pry him off, "when it's someone you _claim_ is your friend!"

"She _is_! I'm doing what I have to; no one else is going to avenge my mother!"

"Taking Ahsoka who knows where against her will is kidnapping. A _felony_. That's a _crime, _kid, and makes you a criminal! Your mother want that for you?"

"Ahsoka wouldn't have pressed charges; she might have even helped me if she'd just listen to me for one minute."

"As I heard it, she did," Rex shook him with one hand, jerking him close so they were nose to nose, "and she decided to take you to Coruscant anyway except _you _couldn't accept that."

"Until _you_ interfered," Lux glared at him, still trying to pry his grip away. "Just who _are_ you anyway?"

"Captain Rex of Torrent Company, five hundred and first legion in the Grand Army of the Republic," there was satisfaction in his tone as he watched Lux's eyes widen. "And your _friend_ Ahsoka, is my Commander. An attack on her is an attack on us. _All_ of us. You might want to think about that before you consider raising a hand to her again."

Watching the impact of his words was gratifying as Lux slumped, almost as if shrinking in his hold as his hopes of convincing Ahsoka to side with him against Rex noticeably disappeared.

"I've served with Ahsoka since she started fighting in this war, kid. Before you make any more assumptions, consider the fact that I've had her back in almost every major campaign she's fought and ask yourself; if you were in her place, who would you trust more? The kid without a shred of sense you met _once_ on some illegal mission or the man who's been saving your life for the last two years."

There was a long silence between them as Rex stared hard at the boy, eye to eye, able to _see_ the dawning realization that he'd underestimated Rex and been outmaneuvered, in the depths of his gaze. Rex chose that moment to withdraw, dropping Lux heavily to the bed before backing away. With a twist of his wrist, Rex shot the door control panel on the inside of the room and stepped out as the door closed. He tested it, finding it secure, and retired to the room he shared on rotation with Ahsoka.

Quickly buckling into his kit, the familiar weight reassuring despite the fact his other blaster was lying on the cockpit floor at the front of the ship, he tucked his bucket under one arm as soon as he was finished. Exiting the room, he was in time to hear Lux banging on the door, calling for Ahsoka again.

_"Ahsoka!" _

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

_"Ahsoka!"_

Ignoring the commotion, Rex slipped back forward to find Ahsoka still at the console, the ship having slid into hyperspace somewhere between him leaving her there and his return. Ahsoka spun in her chair as he entered and a quick look showed his blaster was not where it had fallen earlier; it was now in one of her hands, stock outstretched in his direction.

"Seemed a crime to leave it on the floor considering how much you baby them, Rexster."

He accepted the blaster and slid it back into its holster, caressing the stock and promising to give it a good cleaning later. "Thank you."

"You were gone a long time; problems?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." His assurance was easy. "Your Separatist friend seems to think he knows you better than I do."

"He's not a Separatist anymore, Rex."

"Not the point."

She grinned. "Did you set him straight?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"You didn't hit him again, did you?"

"No." Much as he'd wanted to. "He'll be black and blue come morning though."

"I should check on him; make sure he's okay."

Rex reached out to grab her forearm as she made to get up. "He's _fine_, Ahsoka. A little bruise is the least of his worries and less than what he deserves for what he tried to do to you."

"The least… what did you do?"

"Talk to him."

"Rex."

He shrugged. "I made it clear his actions were inappropriate."

She sighed, relaxing back into her seat, watching him, watching her. After a long silence, the star lines passing outside the viewport with predictable monotony, Ahsoka finally broke the silence, her tone serious. "Why didn't you just stun him, Rex?"

Reflecting on the situation, he knew exactly why. "You were within the blast radius."

"But why take him down like that? A simple word to tell him you saw he had a weapon and he would have dropped it."

"I had no idea who he was at the time, Ahsoka; I didn't know what he was capable of. I couldn't take that chance."

"Rex-"

"Situational assessment, sir," Rex deliberately threw her title in. "I saw the threat and I neutralized it in the most effective manner possible."

"You could have looked like you hadn't enjoyed it as much."

"And you could be less worried for a boy who was willing to disrespect your opinion and greater experience; your greater knowledge of the galaxy and how it works to risk both you and himself in Force knows what foolish quest."

Staring at one another, Ahsoka smiled a funny little smile that did interesting things to his insides before turning back to the console. "It's nice to know you care Rexster. Double check my computations would you? The excitement might have thrown me off."

Rex turned to do just that, slanting a side long look at her before turning his attention completely to the task. He was pleased when, after a few minutes, she seemed content to stay with him in the cockpit instead of seeking out the Bonteri boy despite her defense of him.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd gotten through to her after all.

_fin_


End file.
